SPACE PRIZE CHALLENGE - NYC
Empowering young women to participate in the growing space economy.
5 boroughs
5 public SCHOOLS
5 winners
Participating schools:
Brooklyn - Midwood High School
Manhattan - New Explorations into Science Technology and Math (NEST)
Queens - Bayside High School
Staten Island - Tottenville High School
What was the Space Prize Challenge - NYC?
The first Space Prize Challenge was designed to encourage STEAM education and careers in the space industry, with a focus on high school women in New York City public schools.
One winner was chosen from a partner school in each of the five boroughs. The winners were promised a ZERO-G flight and mentorship from an influential woman in the space industry.
In addition, twenty-five finalists participated in a simulated mission to Mars at the Challenger Center in Manhattan and were invited to a Yuri’s Night celebration at Waterline Square. Five additional winners were also flown to Huntsville, AL for Space Camp LIFT, a new leadership program at the US Space & Rocket Center.
TEACHERS selected 5 FINALISTS FROM EACH SCHOOL TO SUBMIT A VIDEO PRESENTATION TO SPACE PRIZE.
SPACE PRIZE JUDGES EVALUATEd ESSAYS AND VIDEO SUBMISSIONS AND SELECT ONE WINNER FROM EACH SCHOOL FOR A ZERO GRAVITY FLIGHT.
Timeline
December 2021 – Space Prize NYC Launched
January 2022 – Essay Contest at 5 Schools
February 2022 – Video Contest for 25 Finalists
March 2022 – Final Judging Occurs, Simulated Mission to Mars for 25 Finalists
April 2022 – Yuri’s Night Celebration for 25 Finalists, Space Camp LIFT for 5 Winners
May 28, 2022 – Zero-G Flight for 5 Winners
ROUND 1: ESSAY (1000 words)
The Overview Effect has been described by many astronauts as a cognitive shift in awareness when viewing the earth from outer space, suspended in the darkness of the cosmos. From this vantage point, one experiences the earth not as we typically see it on Google Earth: with borders, dogmas, conflicts and strife, but as one planet in which everything is interconnected. Experiencing the overview effect can create a shift in the way that we think of ourselves, of others and of this place that we call home.
Tell us about a time in your life when your perspective was meaningfully impacted and how has it changed the way that you experience the world?
ROUND 2: VIDEO PRESENTATION (90 seconds)
Who are you?
Where are you from?
How old are you?
What does exploration mean to you? Tell us an instance when you felt the magic of discovery and how it has impacted your life.
meet the judges and mentors
WInners
Applicants at the Tottenville High School Aviation Lab.
Executive director Kim Macharia speaks to applicants at the Young Womens' Leadership School of The Bronx.
Finalists participate in a simulated mission to Mars at the Challenger Center.
All finalists gather in Mission Control at the Challenger Center.
Finalists' faces on a massive Times Square Billboard for the Female Quotient.
CNN's Rachel Crane speaks to finalists on Yuri's Night at Waterline Square.
All nine winners at Yuri's Night. (Five won a Zero G flight, but four required alternates for Space Camp.)
Winners at Space Camp LIFT in Huntsville, AL.
The five winners pose with executive director Kim Macharia and Star Trek's Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar).
Winners experience weightlessness on a Zero-G flight.
Four winners and Star Trek's Denise Crosby interviewed by Dan Deevy of Gaaays in Spaaace.
The five winners show off the new mission patches on their flight suits.
THE ZERO-G EXPERIENCE
