Holly Reitz (left), STARBASE Educator, and Colonel John Puttre (right), STARBASE Director, instructed youth and their families how to fly aircraft on flight simulators
Youth designed vehicles for air, ground, and water missions on Computer Aided Design software
Milwaukee, Wis. — On July 20th, Discovery World celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing with hands-on activities, displays, and educational experiences for the public to enjoy. Focused on local Milwaukee & Wisconsin connections to NASA and space exploration, the event highlighted the illustrious past of lunar travel and sought to inspire our community to become the next generation of rocket scientists, researchers, and explorers. The display of space exploration was organized by the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium (WSGC) to showcase STEM educational programs funded by the WSGC. STARBASE Wisconsin is a recipient of WSGC grants this year. The mission of NASA’s Space Grant Program contributes to the nation’s science enterprise by funding education scholarships, research, and informal education projects through a national network of university-based Space Grant consortia. Their mission is to develop a strong science, mathematics, and technology education base from elementary through university levels with a focus on aviation and space science exploration.
Michelle Klos-Gonzalez, STARBASE Educator, posed with the space suit of James Lovell, a former NASA astronaut from the Apollo era missions and a Wisconsin native.
Holly Reitz sits on a physical therapy machine designed by Jeff Leismer, PhD from VibeTech, a NASA spinoff company based in Wisconsin. This invention delivers vibration to the lower extremity muscles activated a natural stretch reflex. It was initially aimed to solve the problem of bone loss during space flight.
To learn more about the DoD STARBASE Academy in Wisconsin, visit starbasewi.org or contact John Puttre, Director-STARBASE Wisconsin, via email at .