Two College of the Canyons students recently participated in a team-based student collaboration offered through NASA’s Lucy Mission, officials said Tuesday.

Held in the fall, the Lucy Student Pipeline Accelerator and Competency Enabler (L’SPACE) Virtual Academy is a 12-week academy that teaches undergraduate science and engineering students rigorous, project-based STEM workforce development, according to college officials.

The academy includes mission development skills and protocols relayed by NASA scientists and engineers.

“It has been incredible to see how students have grown through their participation in the (High Altitude Student Platform) HASP project,” said Teresa Ciardi, a physical science professor at the college and HASP co-advisor. “Seventeen students have gone on to complete internships at companies such as Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.”

One of the students selected was Arthur Berberyan, a sophomore student majoring in physics.

“It was a really good feeling,” said Berberyan, who plans on getting a degree in astrophysics and a PhD in a related field. “It makes you feel as though all the hard work you do really does pay off.”

The experience was a dream come true for Berberyan, who has loved science since he was a boy, according to officials.

“As a child I was always more interested in the science channel than generic children’s shows,” said Berberyan.

Berberyan heard about L’SPACE while working on the Astronomy & Physics Club’s High-Altitude Student Platform (HASP) project, which he says prepared him well for the academy’s rigorous nature.

“HASP prepared me to work independently as well as in team efforts,” Berberyan said. “It made going into the L’SPACE academy feel very familiar in the aspect of what to do rather than getting overwhelmed.”

As a L’SPACE participant, Berberyan benefited from webinars hosted by Arizona State University professors, NASA project managers and actual NASA employees and scientists working on the Lucy mission.

The NASA Lucy mission is set to launch by October 2021 and will have Lucy explore six Trojan asteroids, a unique family of asteroids that orbit the sun in front of and behind Jupiter, according to the official NASA website.

Ed. Note: This information was provided to KHTS by College Of The Canyons.

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