(Music)
S. Pete Worden, Director, NASA Ames: NASA has a lot of different things that we do
to get young people excited about science and math and doing the cool things that NASA does.
By doing these kind of events, we really begin to reach out, work with the community
and to try to figure out how to make a better future.
Russell Shoatz, Ankh Marketing and Media: It’s not just a science experience,
but it’s a cultural experience also…and tying that culture to the science,
to get the kids interested in a way that they may have never been interested before.
Donald James, Education Specialist, NASA Ames: We had the good fortune to have MOS Def, a very famous hip hop artist,
participate with our own astronaut Leland Melvin, to talk about the importance of science
and how science and culture are very much related.
MOS Def speaking on video: Define it, pursue it, become it, live it, love it. Peace!
Donald James: It’s really important to be able to bridge these worlds.
And by having that kind of an experience here at Chabot, we bring in people
who might not come to an event that we would normally have, if we had a science event.
Pete Worden: The things that NASA has to do in the next few decades are really hard.
We’re unlocking the secrets of the universe; we’re going to solve problems here on Earth, such as understanding climate change.
But maybe the most significant, for the long term, is sometime in the next few decades, for the first time,
humans will leave this Earth permanently.
And this is a chance to really get to some of the folks that didn’t really understand that they can be astronauts,
they can be scientists, they can be engineers and they can make all this happen and make the future happen.
I think the most inspirational things anybody can do is, is look at the face of a young person,
when they suddenly realize the world is such a wonderful place,
the universe is such a wonderful place and they can make a difference.
They can understand these things, they can go there.
One of these kids may well be the first human to set foot on Mars, so it’s pretty exciting.
(Music)