Salem students rave about NASA competition

By Bella Travaglini, Town Correspondent

They may not have won, but for a group of Salem students the experience of participating in a NASA competition opened their eyes to a whole new world.

The 10 middle school students this summer over 5 weeks learned to write computer programs that controlled a robot aboard the International Space Station while it orbits the earth 200 miles away. Last Thursday at MIT, the Salem kids put their programs to the test against 10 other schools and youth groups from across the state through a live satellite feed aboard the Space Station. They did not win, but that did not dampen their enthusiasm for their accomplishments.

“We had our ups and downs, but I think with a few tweaks, we could have won,” said Junior Martinez who will be a 7th grader this fall at the Collins Middle School.

Staff at Salem Cyberspace at 98 Lafayette St., where the program was held, initially had trouble recruiting kids, said Linda Saris, director of the center.

“Kids are afraid of math and science – these are not usually favorite subjects,” said Saris

But the staff was able to encourage 10 Salem kids to sign on, many of whom they knew through other programs offered at the center.

“It soon became clear that the program was a success since there was practically no absenteeism,” she said.

This was the first year that NASA offered such a program to kids in middle school, said Saris. NASA wants to generate an interest, particularly in minorities and girls, for exploring the sciences and technologies as possible career paths, said Saris.

The kids, under the direction of Ned Dawes, a science and technology teacher from Marblehead Middle School, started out likening the task to programming a video game, said Saris. Dawes filled in the lessons with smaller projects, like building water rockets that the kids set off in Salem Commons, and a GPS hunt with the help of local retailers who allowed them to use their stores as locations for the drill, said Saris. Assisting Dawes was Jaster Rincon of Salem Cyberspace and Andrew Wimmer, a junior in aeronautics engineering at MIT.

“They helped make it fun and it wasn’t hard to understand at all,” said Martinez.

At last week’s competition held at MIT the students got to meet astronauts, who helped coordinate the event from the auditorium with other astronauts aboard the Space Station, and to speak with them about the work they do.

“I can tell you that if sports don’t work out for me, I wouldn’t mind becoming an astronaut,” said Martinez, who plays basketball, baseball and football in Salem.

The summer robotics program was a collaboration through Salem Cyberspace, a program offered through North Shore Community Action Programs, Inc., the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership, and MIT. Saris hopes to offer the program again, but does not know if Salem Cyberspace will be allowed to apply for the grant again should one be offered.