“For the benefit of all”, NASA’s motto, has been proven to be true for Arapahoe Community College students Mary Block and River Gassen, who are embarking on phase two of the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) Program next week.

Both Block and Gassen were accepted into phase two of the NCAS program due to how well they did last summer in phase one, which was a five-week module-based online course. Each module, which includes a series of articles and videos for students to view in addition to the curriculum, ends with a quiz that can be taken multiple times.

Phase two of the program lasts from September 26th to the 29th, and takes place at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. Students will have the opportunity to take classes, participate in projects, experiments and resume building, take a tour of facilities and sit in on briefings by NASA subject-matter experts.

They even get to work in teams to establish fictional companies interested in Mars exploration. Each team is responsible for developing and testing a prototype rover, forming a company infrastructure, managing a budget and developing communications and outreach.

It is the tours that Mary Block is most excited about during her time in Houston. Block, a future Astronomy/Astrophysics and Physics major, and River Gassen, a Physics major at University of Colorado- Colorado Springs, are both already planning their fictitious Mars exploration company.

They have already come up with a name, a logo, and have begun researching the programming that goes into developing a functional rover.

“They want you to succeed, so they make it possible for everyone to do so,” Block noted, exemplifying the “benefit for all” aspect NASA strives for.

The sky is literally beyond the limit for these two, as both students have big dreams within the field. Gassen aspires to become an astrophysicist, and Block wants to one day research galaxies at the very institution she will be visiting next week. Maybe a resume should be included on her packing list.

Congratulations are in high order to these two amazing students.

To learn more about the program visit https://nas.okstate.edu/ncas/