Community college students have NASA experience

A NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Project was completed this week at Meridian Community College.

Students were selected after successfully completing a five-week online course. They were then divided into four teams and formed their own company to build a mars rover for an engineering design and robotics competition. Awards were given out to the best team members and overall best team.

"It's a really impactful experience that we had this week," said Valerie Bishop, MCC division chair for science, fitness and wellness. "The days are long. There's a lot of work and the students competed in teams. They were the red team, green team, gold team, and navy team. They had to build a rover from an EV3 Lego kit."

"They learned about NASA and its missions. They take exams on those, and they do a designed project," said Mitch Krell, university affairs officer for NASA.

"I feel that this program shouldn't be something overlooked," said Brandon Harkins, a member of the red team. "Even though we're at MCC, this is the real deal. We have people from NASA that work in NASA come and talk to us. In the past, MCC alumni came and talk to us that has made it almost all the way to the top. This is something that can get you to the next level."

Twenty-five students from throughout the country participated in this project. One will get an internship at NASA.