• HIgher orbits

    Go For Launch! 
    Developing Teamwork, Communication, Leadership through Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

    The Higher Orbits Mission
    Higher Orbits is a non-profit with the mission of promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM); along with leadership, teamwork, and communication through the use of spaceflight. Mankind's journey into space serves as an ideal launch pad to excite students of all ages about STEM, STEAM, Leadership and working to fulfill their dreams and ambitions. Higher Orbits uses a variety of programs and partnerships with other organizations to achieve these goals. 

    Go For Launch! is a 3 day program (8 hours each day) that uses Space Exploration as a platform to launch student involvement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), and Art (STEAM), teamwork, communication and leadership. This program is created and presented by Higher Orbits and was developed to reach high school-aged students but can easily by modified for middle school or collegiate groups as well!

    Students are immersed in the wonder of Human Spaceflight through a variety of talks delivered by experts in the fields of space & STEM: such speakers have included an astronaut, former International Space Station and Space Shuttle Flight Controllers, Astronaut Instructors, scientists, and engineers. Students get insight and feedback from experienced space and STEM professionals whose goals are to illustrate the numerous possibilities that exist in the world of STEM. A unique facet of Go For Launch! is that the students will work with an astronaut for at least two - if not all three - days of the event!

     Broken into teams, students will work together for the entire event. Nearly every talk features collaborative activity, before or after, where team members must work together to complete tasks for daily awards. These tasks are designed to build leadership and teamwork skills, as well as enhance team communication. The culminating exercise is a design project. Each team must define and design a space experiment. At the conclusion of each program, the teams will present their ideas to a panel of judges from the Space and STEM fields., who will then choose a winner from each Go For Launch! event. Depending on the funding, the experiment will either launch, or it will be in competition with a handful of other projects from the area/state and the winner of the allotment will go for launch to the International Space Station or a Parabolic Flight. Higher Orbits has agreements in place to facilitate both options. 

    Go For Launch! is a unique and memorable experience that brings spaceflight to communities that might not otherwise have access to this. Space inspires the Go For Launch! experience and skills that can lead to success in any venture that requires imagination, leadership. teamwork, and problem solving skills. Higher Orbits looks forward to bringing Go For Launch! to your area! 
     
    This year, our own Hobart High School will be a location for this great event in October! More details will come but to get it started the school had a contest to design the patch and the results were amazing! 14 students entered to have their design chosen and it was up to 5 astronauts to pick the winner! After much deliberation and some restless nights, they decided to go with Caitlyn's image! But it gets better....they were so impressed with our Brickie's drawings that they chose Lexi's to be the artwork on the flyer! Great work to all of our students and stay tuned for more information about registering for this event!
     
    Caitlyn's Drawing for the Patch 
    Patch

    Lexi's artwork for the flyer! 
    flyer