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your homegrown newspaper December 11, 2024
Vol. 21, No. 13
Ronan fifth grader wins trip to Florida to learn about space careers By Summer Goddard Valley Journal
B
Casino name pg. 6
Stewardship award pg. 8
Parade of Lights pg. 14
uilding bigger, better rockets for astronauts to go to space in is what 11-year-old Tobias Becker of Ronan wants to do when he grows up. The future rocket scientist traveled to Florida last month to learn more about careers in space as part of the 2024 SpaceKids Global Press Squad. Tobias became a member of the eight-student press squad by submitting a video interview he did of two fellow students, Kember Marengo and Marie Cheff, who’d visited a jet propulsion lab in Pasadena, California. During his trip with SpaceKids Global, Tobias watched two rocket launches – one for Blue Origin that happened in Texas via livestream and a bonus SpaceX launch that happened while the press squad was touring a United Launch Alliance facility. His group was rushed to the roof to watch the launch of SpaceX rocket that was
COURTESY PHOTO
Tobias Becker, wearing the blue hat in center, stands with his father behind him and with a group of other students from across the country selected to participate in a SpaceKids Global learning trip.
happening about a mile away. Tobias said seeing
a rocket launch so close with his own eyes was w w w.va l le yj our na l.net
a highlight of the trip which overall, “was really
fun.” After watching the Blue Origin launch from a room adjacent to mission control, members of his press squad were able to interview astronauts Sharon and Marc Hagle after they landed. The Hagles are the first married couple to have gone into space together and have now done so, twice. Sharon Hagle is also the founder of SpaceKids Global - a Florida based, national nonprofit, with the mission to educate and actively engage a national audience of elementary students in STEAM activities. For the launch Tobias and his group watched, the Hagles breached the threshold the earth’s atmosphere and were weightless in space for about 8 minutes. On this mission, they conducted an experiment for NASA on knot-tying in space. Once they were back, Tobias said he asked the Hagles how they felt in the rocket while they see page 2