On June 9th and 10th, Dr. Andrew Mattioda of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) CAN 7 team participated in the Chickasaw Nation Aeronautics and Space Academy (CNASA) held in Ada, Oklahoma. The Chickasaw Nation conducts the week-long camp to encourage their Native American youth to consider careers in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields. During his two days at the camp, Dr. Mattioda talked to the students about NASA and STEM career opportunities as well as conducted hands-on science demonstrations with the eighteen 8th to 12th grade students, teaching them about infrared light and spectroscopy. With the help of Dr. Carl Rutledge of East Central University, the students were able to view Venus, Jupiter and Saturn and, during the day, solar prominences and sunspots.

One of the Chickasaw students could not believe a person from NASA came all the way just for them and kept asking, “Why are you really here?” Another student, excited by his NAI grab bag, exclaimed, “If I end up developing faster than light travel, it is because you were here today and gave us all of this!” highlighting the impact educational outreach had on students.

CNTV provided news coverage of CNASA.