Back to Space Ambassadors

STEM Conferences: Inspiring the Next Generation

In ninth grade, I received an email out of the blue from the media director of Summit Elementary, a local school. She was organizing a day-long STEM conference for third to sixth grade students and invited me to be a keynote speaker.

I had to read the email several times to believe what it said—she wanted me to be a keynote speaker? Aside from class presentations, I had almost no public…

Ambassador Gavin Syas writes about his experience at the Apollo 50th gala at Kennedy Space Center in July in this new blog post!

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…”

President John F. Kennedy

On July 16, 1969, mankind launched its first of many rockets that would successfully land on the moon and return safely back to Earth. Fast forward to July 16, 2019, 50 years after this historical event, and we are now celebrating the 50th…

I’ve always pictured the desert as flat and lifeless. I imagined sand stretching into the distance, with just a few cacti to break the monotony.

I definitely didn’t expect mountains.

I was in California for a high altitude balloon launch with Back to Space, and I’ve never lived a weekend as packed full of adventure. That weekend brought me through flights and road trips, last-minute design…

High Altitude Balloon Launch!

Fresh off the incredible Apollo 50th Anniversary, our Back to Space Ambassadors are excited to share with you our next event! On August 10th in Southern California, we will be launching a high-altitude balloon with collect weather data, GoPro footage, and much more.

              Headed up by Ambassador Krystal Horton, our team will be traveling to California on August 9th to begin prep for…

5 Foods to Celebrate the Moon Landing

This July is the 50th anniversary of the first time we landed on the moon, and it seems like everyone is celebrating one of mankind’s greatest achievements! Whether it includes honoring the anniversary at an event (like the Kennedy Space Center Gala– that’s where we were!) or at home watching that famous clip of Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon for the first time, you’ll need some good…

This Month in Zodiac: Cancer

Cancer, Latin for “crab,” is the zodiac sign from June 22-July 22. In Greek myth, Cancer was connected to Hercules, son of Zeus and a mortal woman named Alcmene. Hera, who was Zeus’s wife, hated Hercules and placed a curse on him that ultimately drove him to kill his wife. To make amends, Hercules was ordered by Zeus to complete ten tasks, one of which was killing the nine-headed Hydra. During…

Countdown to the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Gala

We are officially less than a month away from the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. You might remember it… the one that put Americans on the moon. It was on July 16th, 1969 at the time of 9:32:00 that the massive Saturn V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on top. Viewed in person by around a million people – with millions more tuning in via TV and…

WASP (Women Air Force Service Pilots of WWII) Interview

By: MaryJane Whitaker

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to go to Sun N Fun which, if you don’t know, is the largest air show/air convention in Florida.  While there, our guide, Paris Dolinger, founder of Waypoint Excursions, pulled some strings and got us tickets to attend a luncheon for the Ninety-Nine’s, which is an international organization for woman pilots.  During the luncheon,…

We're on NPR! Check out our radio interview about Back to Space and learn a little about the event in our new blog post!

I got home from school today and my phone beeped with a text. One of my friends asked in all caps, WERE YOU JUST ON NPR? A little confused, I asked when she’d heard the radio episode and how she knew. Apparently, one of her teachers had told her it was on, and she caught the last few minutes. Here’s the link if you want to check it out!

We recorded the interview in March at an event Back to…

High school students, want tips on getting free money for college? Check out our new blog post on scholarships you can apply for and share with your friends!

Does the college admission process ever end? Just as the seniors made their college choice on National Decision Day (you can read about where we’re going here), juniors are bracing for a summer of college visits and exploring what will make the best fit. In my experience, there were a lot of factors that needed to be considered before I chose, some being my choice of major, location, etc. What I…