Our Incredible Journey to NASA

A group of ten students and one teacher from DPS Gurgaon did the Astronaut Training Experience (ATX) Kennedy Space Centre, Orlando from16th to 27th March 2016. It was an enriching educational trip.

The experience of the micro gravity wall (MGW), 3-D IMAX experience of how the universe looks through the Hubble Telescope, visit to Apollo Saturn V centre, guided tour to the space centre ended with high adrenalin. The experience was garnished with the interaction with the astronauts and engineers, who shared experiences, challenges and how they overcame those challenges to become an astronaut. A graduation ceremony for the participants was conducted and ATX certificates were given.

Our visit to Orlando would not have been complete without the visit to the famous Disneyland as well as Universal Studios. The entire group enjoyed each and every ride at Disney as well as their sojourn to Island of Adventures at Universal Studios.

The students visited Capitol Hill, White House, memorial of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Vietnam War memorial. Visit to Smithsonian Air and Space museum strengthened our concepts on History of the Flying Objects. We had a memorable ferry ride to Statue of Liberty and a breathtaking view of entire New York City from the 86th floor of Empire State Building from the observatory deck.

We took a guided tour of Harvard and MIT. We were floored by the vastness of the library at Harvard. One of the best libraries in the world. To sum up, it was an invaluable experience, which was one of the best anybody could have ever hoped for, in terms of education and having fun.

In the end, we would like to conclude with- “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is the change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” By M. Beard