Tish Bresee walks into a room that could encourage local girls to be among the the first women in history to land on the moon. NASA’s upcoming Artemis mission focuses on doing just that, traveling to the moon for the first time in 50 years, and doing so with a female.
“It has a rim that’s always in the sunshine. Try to imagine never a cloud, always in the sun 24 hours a day,” said Trish Bresee, Kopernik School programs coordinator.
Bresee is a NASA volunteer, and started a program known as Girl Power, to get more young girls interested in space. Projects like this one will teach them to construct an aircraft, which focuses on STEM techniques.
“We’re looking for girls who are interested in science and math and are not afraid to solve a problem, because you’re going to have problems, you’re going to have to solve to save your life and everyone around you,” said Bresee.
The girls will also be able to witness a bit of history, shown a moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission, encouraging them to make their own history. Bresee could be a part of that history, but not in the way you might think.
“I’m not going to be one of those old people that goes up into the rocket like those other guys. No. I’m going to watch it with joy. I’m going to be very happy to see the young ladies and gentleman who are going to go out there and explore the universe for us,” said Bresee.
As a telescope is prepared, Drew Deskur is also ready to witness history. He’s operated the Kopernik observatory for nearly a decade, and would love to see one of these young girls carving their own path into space.
“First of all, it’s about time to do this and I think among the things that this does is it really focuses on the importance of diversity that there’s so many things we can be learning if we all pull from various sources,” said Drew Deskur, Kopernik Observatory executive director.
The first woman is set to land on the moon sometime in the next five years, and there’s a chance one of the young women in this program could be next. Girls interested in signing up for the “Girl Power” Artemis event can register online.
