Ian Cawthray, VSGC鈥檚 education programs coordinator, is taking charge of the six-day-long program.

鈥淭he purpose of VASTS is to educate today鈥檚 students on the space mission design process used by NASA through challenging their abilities to communicate and plan for the nearly infinite challenges of human spaceflight,鈥� said Cawthray. 鈥淭he students in each week of the VASTS Summer Academy collaboratively design a human mission to Mars in only a matter of days.鈥�

Although all of our summer programs are now online, VSGC has taken every step to ensure all participants have the same experience in this new online platform.

鈥淭he biggest challenges in transitioning to an online format were maintaining the communications and social aspects of the VASTS Summer Academy,鈥� said Cawthray. 鈥淲e will achieve the goal of re-creating the critical aspects of the Summer Academy. [We are] combining our Content Management System and the ODU Distance Learning Webex system, in order to keep students discussing, planning, and solving problems.鈥�

In addition to mission planning, the program will once again be hosting Astronaut Dr. Roger Crouch as it鈥檚 guest speaker, who has flown two space shuttle flights, STS-83 and STS-94.

鈥淒r. Crouch has been presenting to VASTS students for the last ten years,鈥� said Cawthray. 鈥淗is story of never giving up on your dreams is designed to encourage the VASTS students as they tackle this challenge and before they begin on their individual journeys to tackle the other challenges they鈥檒l face in their careers and lives.鈥�

When talking about his involvement in VASTS, Cawthray does not take his role lightly.

鈥淭his program is important to building the skills and futures of students in Virginia,鈥� said Cawthray. 鈥淏eing able to assist in the growth of hundreds of students a year is an important job to take on.鈥�

Furthermore, the use of an online platform opens new possibilities for future programs.

鈥淲e will certainly be able to have a significant amount of lessons learned that we鈥檒l be able to make use of in re-vamping the Summer Academy next year,鈥� said Cawthray. 鈥淭he new tools and techniques for delivering the VASTS Summer Academy will be crucial in pushing the limits of in-person and virtual technologies for a better student experience.鈥�

VASTS will have two more iterations this summer, July 12-17 and July 26-31, with a total attendance of 223 students.

Visit from more information on our summer programs.

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The 麻豆村 is now offering an online alternative to our summer programs. With the help of Old Dominion University’s Office of Distance Learning, our summer programs and internships are happening in spite of a global pandemic. Now lets get to it!

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