WATCH: NASA Hosts STEAM Launch Initiative to Inspire the Next Generation of Space Exploration

Initiative is to inspire children to work in the next generation of space exploration

ABOVE VIDEO: Brevard Public Schools Board Member Matt Susin along with Astronaut Winston Scott speaks at the “Mission One: A Mark III STEAM Initiative” event from Kennedy Space Center.

BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – NASA hosted the “Mission 1: Mark III” STEAM Launch Initiative to inspire the next generation of Space Exploration at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.

STEAM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.

The purpose of the initiative is to inspire children to want to work in the next generation of space exploration.

Kennedy Space Center looks to connect schools from around the world.

Guest speakers at the STEAM Launch Initiative included:

■ Astronaut Captain Winston Scott
■ Senator Bill Montford – CEO Florida Association of District School Superintendents Association
■ Michelle White – Executive Director Florida Association of School Administrators
■ Matt Susin – Brevard County School Board
■ Alan Frisher –President Rotary of Suntree

He flew the F-14 Tomcat and F-18 Super Hornet fighters and 20 other military and civilian aircraft, accumulating more than 5,000 hours of flight time and making over 200 shipboard landings. (NASA image)

Scott, of Melbourne, is a member of the EFSC Board of Trustees and Faculty Emeritus at Florida Institute of Technology.

He graduated from Florida State University and earned his wings as a Naval aviator in 1974.

He flew the F-14 Tomcat and F-18 Super Hornet fighters and 20 other military and civilian aircraft, accumulating more than 5,000 hours of flight time and making over 200 shipboard landings.

He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1992 and flew on two space shuttle missions in 1996 and 1997, logging more than 24 days in space and conducting three spacewalks with nearly 20 hours outside the spacecraft.

After leaving NASA, he served as Vice President of Student Affairs at Florida State University and Executive Director of the Florida Space Authority, where he helped open the space industry at Kennedy Space Center to commercial companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Scott earned a Bachelor’s Degree in music education from FSU and his Master’s Degree in aeronautical engineering from the United States Naval Postgraduate School.

The Simpkins Speaker Series is named after the late Bernard Simpkins, a highly successful entrepreneur and Brevard County business leader who established the sessions that have brought some of the nation’s top business innovators to EFSC.

The series also includes the presentation of the Bernie W. Simpkins Scholarship to EFSC students with an entrepreneurial focus.

For questions about the series and Simpkins scholarship, visit EasternFlorida.edu/go/simpkins or call 321-433-7055.

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