WILDWOOD, Fla. – After coming up with a space exploration mission, a Sumter County 15-year-old won NASA’s Power to Explore student challenge.
Fifteen-year-old Audrielle Esma has had a passion for science since she was a 5-year-old living in the Philippines.
“It’s still my favorite subject now that I’m in high school,” Esma said.
Esma attends the Astra Nova School. The online school started with Elon Musk and has now blossomed into an international program where students can pick what courses they take.
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“So, he asked his friend I guess, Joshua Dahn, to make a new school with only one objective: make it great,” Esma said.
One of the courses Esma takes is solely dedicated to entering STEM competitions. The competitions can be anything from poetry to essays to art – they just have to be centered around STEM.
Esma has entered several competitions this term alone. The Wildwood teen was recently named a finalist in NASA’s Power to Explore student challenge before winning it all, her family told News 6 on Tuesday.
Students needed to plan a Radioisotope Power System powered mission all in 200 words or less. An RPS turns heat into energy and has been used on several missions like the Mars rovers.
Esma’s mission would be to find out how the dwarf planet, Haumea got its unique egg-like shape.
“The mission I designed was sending a rover on to Haumea to kind of collect samples on its ground composition,” Esma said. “And then another orbital craft to go like closer to its rings study the rings and then see if we can find any connections between the two and confirm the theory of how it became like egg shaped pretty much.”
Esma said she entered the Power to Explore challenge on a whim a week before the deadline. Her advice to other kids looking to showcase their skills? Just do it.
“The worst that could happen is that you could lose,” Esma said. “Just going and participating is also infinitely worth it even if you don’t win.”
According to NASA’s website, Esma found out on Tuesday she won. She will receive a NASA prize pack and a trip to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio this summer.
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