![\"Three](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/test3-team.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>Alongside WSTF, festival director Alice Carruth is working to open a world that many believe is off limits and others don\u2019t know exists.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless you\u2019re driving over the mountains regularly and seeing the sign that says, \u2018The Birthplace of the U.S. Space and Missile Program,\u2019 you don\u2019t tend to know what\u2019s going on in your backyard,\u201d \u00a0Carruth said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole premise of the Space Festival is to make people understand what\u2019s going on in their community, to encourage people to think about careers in the space industry, and to inspire the next generation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A featured speaker at the festival\u2019s New Mexico State University Astronomy & Industry Night, Meerscheidt had the chance to do just that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun to see a lot of young kids that are wide-eyed and excited,\u201d Meerscheidt said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be able to encourage them to pursue their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Among those wide-eyed festivalgoers was 6-year-old Camilla Medina-Bond, who was confident in her vision for the future.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be an astronaut when I grow up,\u201d she said. \u201cI want to visit the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As for the details of her lunar mission, Medina-Bond\u2019s plan is simple: \u201cJust going to see what\u2019s on it.\u201d She has plenty of time to figure out the specifics \u2014 after all, giant leaps start with small steps. According to Meerscheidt, the aspiring astronaut has already taken the first and most critical step.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what NASA is all about,\u201d Meerscheidt said. \u201cExplore, be inquisitive. Open your mind, open your imagination, and go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\nas she operates a virtual reality headset. <\/div>\n
Medina-Bond\u2019s aspiration is shared by many young dreamers. A 2024 global study by longtime NASA partner, the LEGO Group, found 77% of kids ages 4-14 want to travel to space.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Carruth acknowledged that keeping the attention of today\u2019s always-scrolling, trend-driven generation is not easy, and that children\u2019s fascination with space often wanes as they age.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at the statistics, space tends to be really cool until they get to middle school level, and then space isn\u2019t cool anymore \u2014 not because it\u2019s not cool, but because it then becomes inaccessible to a lot of students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Still, Carruth is prepared to navigate the challenge.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI want kids to understand that space is for everybody,\u201d Carruth said. \u201cI also want their parents and grandparents to understand why space is important and that this is a feasible career.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Oscar Castrejon, who attended the festival with his 12-year-old son, Oscar Jr., is on his own mission to nurture that understanding. \u201cI\u2019ve learned early kids need to develop their own passions, but if they say \u2018hey, I like this, I\u2019m interested in it,\u2019 then I\u2019ll take them to it,\u201d Castrejon said. \u201cIf their eyes get opened, if their imagination gets sparked, you never know \u2014 you could be looking at the next NASA scientist.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>WSTF TEST3 Deputy Program Manager and Business Manager Karen Lucht shares Castrejon\u2019s philosophy, emphasizing the importance of authenticity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeak[ing] to who you are as a person will ultimately lead to who you will become as a professional,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A remote test site, WSTF has its own ecosystem which Lucht compares to a \u201csmall city.\u201d Among its residents are scientists and engineers, but also welders, writers, firefighters, and photographers \u2014 to name a few.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhite Sands offers endless opportunities for everybody,\u201d Lucht said. \u201cEvery career has a path here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lucht\u2019s own journey illustrates the infinite potential that arises in diverse spaces like WSTF.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI came from a town of less than a thousand people, and I never dreamt that I would work for NASA,\u201d she said. \u201cAs someone who was told many times that I would never make it to my position, I look back on my career and realize there are no restraints. You really can do anything you want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
For those wanting to join the ranks at WSTF, there is one important requirement: they must see themselves as stardust, a vital element in a grand cosmic plan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking for people who have the right perspective, the desire to learn and contribute to something bigger than themselves,\u201d Lucht said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
At WSTF \u2014 a place where the stars feel close enough to touch \u2014 the sky is not the limit, it is only the beginning.<\/p>\n
Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> At the edge of Las Cruces, New Mexico, surrounded by miles of sunbaked earth, NASA\u2019s White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) is quietly shaping the future. There is no flash, no fanfare \u2014 the self-contained facility operates as it has since 1962, humbly and in relative obscurity. Yet as New Mexico\u2019s space industry skyrockets amid intensifying [\u2026] Continue reading
\nLinda E. Grimm <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"