Edenvale High School learners Aiden Mardon and Reabetswe Mphaho are aiming for the stars after attending the Future African Space Explorer’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Academy conference.
Held between April 27 and April 29, in Pretoria, the two Grade 11 learners attended the conference as ambassadors for FASESA. They were the only ambassadors to represent the academy at the conference.
The conference was held to allow teachers, administrators, education officials and learners to get acquainted with the space exploration in the curriculum and each other.
It aimed to provide teachers and learners with greater insight and understanding of what the space sector is and the career opportunities it offers.
When many people think of space exploration many think the only career in the field is an astronaut.
However, this is not the case. Learners who study IT, agronomy, biology, chemistry, nutrition, geography, medicine, law, management, communications, electronics and physics could find a career in space exploration.
At the conference, space education experts shared new teaching methodologies with African institutions while establishing long-lasting relationships.
Reabetswe said the opportunity to become an ambassador presented itself after one of his teachers, Mrs Smith, uploaded information about the conference onto the school’s Google Classroom.
Reabetswe also thanked Mrs Drake for always taking the time to encourage his interest in space and for answering the questions he presents to her.
On his birthday Reabetswe saw that the opportunity was available and he contacted Sean Jacobs, the director and space advocate for FASESA, about attending the conference.
“Sean contacted me and offered me the position of being an ambassador for FASESA and I wanted my friend Aiden to also be an ambassador as he also has an interest in space.”
Being invited as ambassadors the duo said they learned a lot about the STEM programme FASESA aims to use to increase interest and engagement in space exploration.
“For me being able to go to the conference meant that I had a future in space exploration,” said Reabetswe.
“A lot of people don’t get this kind of opportunity.”
Similarly, Aiden said attending the conference was quite an opportunity.
“I think it was mostly luck, to be honest, but I think Reabetswe and I have an opportunity of getting in the space environment and learning more about theoretical thinking.”
Speaking about their passion for space exploration Reabetswe said his interest was piqued while he was still in nursery school.
He said while his teachers were explaining the various careers he learned about astronauts.
“I couldn’t believe that a person could be out there in space, not on this planet. At the time I didn’t know that different countries existed.”
As he grew Reabetswe continued reading books about space, learning all he could about solar systems, stars and planets.
Aiden said his interest in space grew a year ago while watching YouTube videos.
“There is a game called Kerbal Space Program and a Youtuber, Matt Lowne, that I watch which got me interested in rockets and designs,” said Aiden.
“He used to speak about these complicated words and equations and eventually I looked into the basics of rocket engines and how rockets work.”
Although the conference was open to anyone as ambassadors Reabetswe and Aiden will continue to work with the academy in the coming future.
As a learner with an interest in space exploration Reabetswe has numerous questions regarding space.
“At the conference, I had a platform to ask a lot of questions because usually in school you can’t ask a lot of questions because they are off-topic from the work being done,” said Reabetswe.
“For me the conference was thought-provoking,” said Aiden.
“It highlighted that there are a lot of jobs available at NASA and there are numerous people who can work at NASA who have a normal job now. The conference helped me see that anything is possible.”
Before attending the conference both Aiden and Reabetswe wanted to study in the field of space exploration.
“When I’m older I hope to be a theoretical physicist like great people such as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking that changed physics and made formulas to explain the universe,” said Reabetswe.
“I want to look at the smallest molecules and the biggest galaxies and hope to answer all the questions that people ask.”
Like his friend Aiden also hopes to study in the space exploration field but would like to focus on rockets and their propulsion systems.
“I’ve been looking at pursuing a career as a propellent development engineer and would like to work for SpaceX,” said Aiden.
“The starship I would like to work on will hopefully send humans to Mars in two years so if I could get to work on that starship it would be pretty cool to be able to say I helped send people to Mars.”
Besides working towards their career goals Aiden and Reabetswe are also seeking internships and job shadowing opportunities.
For more information about FASESA contact Anne on 078 955 6711.
