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Hart District Science Teachers Fly On NASA Mission

Hart District science teachers recently flew on a NASA mission, officials said.


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Ravinder Athwal (Bowman), Tom Gavin (West Ranch) and Judy Jennings (Hart) were three of the districts teachers that experienced the mission on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which is an aircraft that has been converted into a flying observatory.

A total of 39 teachers were chosen from across the country, and 12 of them were from the Hart School District.

SOFIA has a 15-ton infrared telescope with the interior of the plane filled with computers and instrumentation capturing raw data from the cosmos, according to a press release.

“Because of my experience talking to the different people on the SOFIA mission, I am now able to give my students an expectation that they too can aspire to work with NASA in a variety of positions,said Athwal.

The mission was a 10-hour flight which traveled over the Pacific Ocean northwest of San Francisco and south toward Hawaii before returning to Palmdale.

Related: West Ranch Students “Take To The Skies” With NASA

The teachers were selected earlier this year as Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors for NASA.

Before the flight, they had to go through safety and mission training that would eventually help them experience real situations with scientists and astronomers, gathering curriculum to share with their students.

“This experience has equipped me with new knowledge about how scientific research is conducted and about the associated career paths that are available to my students,” said Jennings.

The three science teachers join Sarah Arndt (Saugus), Christine Hirst (West Ranch) and Lydia Gonzalez-Jimenez (Canyon) from the Hart District who have flown on SOFIA.

The remaining six teachers will fly on two separate missions next fall.

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Hart District Science Teachers Fly On NASA Mission

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About Lorena Mejia

Lorena was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She attended California State University Northridge where she double majored in Journalism and Chicano Studies and minored in Spanish Language Journalism. While at CSUN, she worked for the university's television and radio newscast. Through her journalistic work, she earned membership to Kappa Tau Alpha, a national honor society for selected journalists. Her passion for the community has introduced her to new people, ideas, and issues that have helped shape the person she is today. Lorena’s skills include using cameras as a tool to empower people by informing them and creating change in their communities. Some of her hobbies include reading the news, exploring the outdoors, and being an avid animal lover. To contact Lorena, send your messages to lorena@hometownstation.com.