Students colonize on Marsville

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Jessica Craig
  • 33rd Maintenance Group
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Hundreds of local fifth graders gathered in a 33rd Fighter Wing maintenance hangar to experiment with space exploration here, May 9.

Working with environmental engineers and volunteers from the base, the "astronauts" were tasked with the mission to sustain life for one day on Mars. Inside rows of 100-square-foot inflated biospheres, they tackled issues such as air quality, communication and transportation within their simulated ecosystems.

For nearly two decades, Eglin has hosted the Marsville project. Engineers of America, which promotes science, technology, engineering and math initiatives, provided a grant for this year's event, hoping to foster these skills at an early age.

"Advancements in technology, like those used throughout systems in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, depend on engineers, mathematicians and scientists to develop these technologies," said Navy Capt. Lance Massey, the 33rd Maintenance Group commander. "Instead of relying on imported knowledge, it is imperative we home grow our future engineers and scientists in this country."

Of the 30 fastest-growing occupations projected through 2020, two-thirds of those jobs will require a strong foundation in math or science, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While the 332 students from Baker, Lewis, Longwood and Wright Elementary Schools are still years away from entering the job market, Marsville helps to nurture an interest in STEM in a way that is both interactive and entertaining.

"You're really able to see their creativity," Carrie Pike, a 12-year Marsville veteran said. "We want them thinking about the future and the possibilities that are out there."

One of the teams from her science class, using pipe cleaners for an intricate system of tubes and aluminum foil to represent solar panels, set out to grow food for their colony.

"We use a pneumatic system," 11-year-old Drake Bracken explained. "It shuffles the soil around, cleans it and sends it to the greenhouses. We use heat to melt the polar caps and water the plants."

Students had about a month to prepare the dioramas they would bring in to the ecosystems.

Katie Eichling, an environmental engineer and contractor for the 96th Civil Engineer Group, along with other engineers, met with students in their classrooms to talk about life on Mars and what kind of obstacles they would face.

"It boggles them that there are no cell towers on Mars," Eichling said about the generation of students who have grown up with instant communication.

The students are asked to consider how all their materials can be reused and recycled to save weight on their space shuttle. Some groups even weigh the waste from their lunches to understand the impact to the environment.

By the end of the day, more than 30 "bubbles" filled the hangar. Sailors, Airmen and Marines from around the base mentored the small groups.

The interaction with military members provided some insight into the wide range of career paths open to students. Marines from VMFAT-501 provided an F-35B aircraft for students to see up close, and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians set up a robot demonstration.

"It was my first time being in a hangar," Pedro Lopez, a Longwood fifth-grader said, clearly excited about the flurry of activity going on around him.

Lopez, typically a shy student, proved to be a valuable asset to his team. He had the unique idea to bring foods like cactus and coconut, with their high concentrations of water, to sustain his group.

His teachers highlighted the originality, noting it is often the reserved students who surprise them with new ideas.

"We really try to impress upon the class that out-of-the-box thinking is what we want," his teacher Sindy Bonebrake said.