Today at SJCS, grades 4-8 were thrilled to welcome guest speaker Shannon Berger, an expert from ThinkOrbital and former SpaceX and NASA employee, who worked on the Europa Clipper Mission.
Shannon shared her experiences flying and programming robots and discussed the critical role these technologies play in space exploration. Our students were captivated by her explanation of how a game some 4th graders play teaches orbital mechanics, making them future aerospace engineers!
Shannon covered a range of fascinating topics, from the plasma ejected by the Sun to the Aurora Borealis and why we’re lucky to see them here in Maine. She explained the complexity of launching rockets, CubeSat missions, and controlling robots in space, including sending satellites to the “geo graveyard orbit.”
4th graders impressed with insightful questions:
• How do you recharge a satellite’s battery?
• What was it like to watch the Europa Clipper Mission launch?
5th and 6th graders shared their progress in the Plant the Moon Challenge, comparing plant growth under different conditions. They were excited to discuss their hypotheses and learned how Falcon Heavy rockets work and why so much propellant is needed.
They were amazed by the fact that it takes 22 minutes for a command to travel to Europa using light waves, and they explored the possibility of Planet 9’s effect on Pluto’s orbit.
7th and 8th graders shared their experiments on plant growth under purple light versus natural light. They were fascinated by Shannon’s explanation of solar maximums, which occur every 11 years and cause Auroras, and the details about the Sunrise Mission to study coronal masses. They also learned that Sunrise satellites are designed to work for 14 months and weigh about 12kg.
Shannon’s visit was an incredible opportunity for our students to connect their learning to real-world science and space exploration!

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