Challenger Learning Center St. Louis Celebrates 20th Anniversary

By Carmelo Turdo

Challenger Learning Center St. Louis celebrated their 20th Anniversary Saturday with an open house and STEM fair at the Challenger Center and the neighboring STEAM Academy at McCluer South Berkeley High School. St. Louis area STEM organizations and educators provided exhibits and activities for the visitors to enjoy, and the Challenger Center ran their abbreviated Expedition Mars space simulation mission every thirty minutes.    

We begin our coverage with a look at the guests arriving at the STEAM Academy and the announcement slides that were posted throughout the day.

The Challenger Learning Center's Expedition Mars space simulation mission was a popular activity throughout the event. Here we feature some views of the mission from pre-boarding to the "launch" and crew stations. The premise of the mission is an expedition to explore the surface of Mars with a rover looking for minerals and water. In order to keep the mission to just thirty minutes rather than the usual two-hour time frame, an asteroid was programmed to strike the target area, aborting the mission and forcing an early return to earth. 

 

A variety of STEM topics, from aeronautics to medicine, natural resources and robotics, were covered during the fair. Here we include a sample of the exhibitors interacting with the students and families at the STEAM Academy.

The Aero Experience congratulates the Challenger Learning Center St. Louis for twenty years of service to the community, and we wish them great success for generations to come.