A ticket to space

Last week Milepost 3 launched their new IPC unit ‘Space Scientist’ with a special visit to the Space Expo museum.

By Gina van Vliet & Kelly Hasker, Group 7 teachers

During our visit we participated in a space class about satelites and the life cycle and we had a guided tour by Michelle, who took us through the exhibit where we learned a lot about Andrė Kuipers and his missions.

Who is Andre Kuiper?

In 1998, André was selected by ESA to be an astronaut. After many years of training, his first space mission took place in 2004 when he travelled to the international space station for 11 days on the DELTA Mission. In December 2011, André again left our planet for a period of 193 days in space, which was the longest European space mission thus far. He shared many experiences on social media to show people what life in space was like. We got to see the actual space shuttle in which André landed back on Earth in 2011, and saw a simulation of a space shuttle take-off!

Space College Classroom

After a 30-minute break we entered the Space College classroom where we worked on our own aliens, thought of our own fictional planets, and then brainstormed on the health of our own planet by discussing deforestation and the food chain on Earth.

From the singing on the bus both ways to the curious, happy and content faces all throughout the museum, we can safely say that this trip was a smashing success.