Philly students share out-of-this-world connection with Artemis II

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (WPVI) — These Philadelphia students are proud to say their names have flown around the moon.

It all started with the outer space-themed curriculum that recurs every year in the 3rd grade class at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.

But this year, the excitement surrounding the Artemis II mission took it to another level.

Teachers decorated their classrooms with astronaut artwork, interstellar vocabulary words, and books about the moon. They even tasked students with building their own rocket ships.

But it was a different assignment altogether that fueled the connection to Artemis II.

In November, students wrote thank you cards to veterans for Veterans Day. One recipient was former Navy pilot Rick Yasky.

Yasky, who now is a part-time contract aerospace engineer with NASA, was moved by the children’s letters.

In addition to writing back, Yasky wanted to do something special for the students.

In his free time, he found a publicly-available NASA webpage. There, anyone could sign up to have their names written on an SD card that would fly on the Orion spacecraft in the Artemis II mission.

Each was able to student sign up and receive commemorative boarding passes. Then, they sent Yasky a photo to thank him once more.

Teachers and students say they will remember it as a small act of kindness that turned into an out-of-this-world experience.

Watch the video above to see what it meant to everyone involved.

“Whose boat? Our boat!” The Discovery Pathways Dragon Boat program gives students a chance to dream even beyond the lakes and rivers of Philadelphia.

Philly students share out-of-this-world connection with Artemis II

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