Students meet NASA astronaut

Former NASA astronaut Dr Jim Reilly touched down at Scitech in October for the launch of the centre’s new feature exhibition – Planet Pioneers.

With more than 17 hands-on exhibits, the exhibition challenges visitors to explore, adapt and survive in a brand-new environment on a foreign planet.

Visitors are challenged to drive a Surface Exploration Vehicle, experience G-Force in a spinning capsule, fly a virtual drone, grow space potatoes and more.

Astronaut and scientist Dr Reilly appeared at Scitech on 25 October and delivered an exclusive, intimate presentation to a selection of metropolitan and regional high school students.

The presentation offered the students a unique look into how science can take a person to the ends of the earth and beyond.

Scitech CEO Deb Banning said Dr Reilly’s presence had added to the already high calibre exhibition, which blasted off to NASA’s Space Center for four months after its debut in Perth.

“It was an honour to have former NASA astronaut Dr Jim Reilly join us to visit our Planet Pioneers exhibition,” Ms Banning said.

“With more than 850 hours in space under his belt, Dr Reilly is a prime example of how engaging with science and STEM can build careers that will change the world as we know it.

“We hope this experience with Dr Reilly, partnered with the Planet Pioneers exhibition, can broaden the students’ minds and help them understand how space and planet exploration could be a part of their future.”

Dr Reilly has also had a successful career as a geoscientist and spent more than 22 days underwater in deep-submergence vehicles with the US Navy.

Students from aviation aligned schools, Australind Senior High School and Kent Street Senior High School, attended the exclusive experience.

Dr Reilly visited Perth as a guest speaker at the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) annual HSE Conference in October.