Onizuka Space Science Day

Event Info

This FREE annual event honors Astronaut Ellison Onizuka's memory and is dedicated to his dream of inspiring the youth of America to strive for and achieve their career goals.

• Saturday, March 14, 2026 from 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
• El Camino College (Check-in at the Marsee Auditorium)

Registration

Reminders

• Kids may need an adult present to help navigate our large campus.
• RAIN OR SHINE!  Please wear appropriate attire.
• Free lunch for the first 850 students! Meals will be available for purchase for other family members.

Featured Astronaut

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger

NASA Astronaut (Former) 

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger was born in May 1975, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but considers Fort Collins, Colorado, her hometown. She is married, with one child, and has a Bachelor of Arts in Geology from Whitman College in Washington. She obtained her Teaching Certification from Central Washington University and taught Earth Science and Astronomy for five years at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington. Metcalf-Lindenburger enjoys running marathons, hiking, drawing, singing and playing music.

Metcalf-Lindenburger was selected by NASA as a Mission Specialist in May 2004. In February 2006, she completed Astronaut Candidate Training. She served as the Astronaut Office Station Branch lead for systems and crew interfaces. In 2010, she was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-131 (April 5 to April 20, 2010) and logged more than 362 hours in space. On arrival at the International Space Station, Discovery’s crew dropped off more than 27,000 pounds of hardware, supplies and equipment, including a tank full of ammonia coolant that required three spacewalks to hook up, new crew sleeping quarters and three experiment racks. On the return journey, Leonardo, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) inside Discovery’s payload bay, was packed with more than 6,000 pounds of hardware, science results and trash. The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 02 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 Earth orbits.

In June 2012, Metcalf-Lindenburger commanded the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 16. In this underwater habitat, the international crew of four aquanauts and two habitat technicians carried out simulated spacewalks. Metcalf-Lindenburger retired from NASA on June 13, 2014, to live and work in the Seattle area.

 

Event Features

• Classroom presentations & demonstrations led by ECC professors, students, and guests from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and other institutions
• Hands-on science activities & experiments
• Egg drop competition!
• Check out the Schedule & list of Breakout Sessions

Important Links

Be prepared for our event by checking out the following links:

• View Directions to El Camino College and explore our interactive campus map.
• Learn more about Ellison Onizuka and the rest of the Challenger crew at the Onizuka Memorial site.

About the Event

The Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Committee, El Camino College, and Honda sponsor this free, hands-on conference. This year marks the 39th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident that took the lives of the seven crew members, including Ellison Onizuka.

Dedication

Onizuka Space Science Day is dedicated to the memory of the seven Challenger astronauts, who on January 28, 1986 lost their lives in pursuit of their dreams.

Francis Scobee, Commander, Washington
Michael Smith, Co-Pilot, North Carolina
Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist, Hawaii
Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist, South Carolina
Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist, Ohio
Gregory Jarvis, Payload Specialist, New York
Christa McAuliffe, High School Teacher, New Hampshire

Challenger Astronauts: (left to right, rear row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis and Judith Resnik. (left to right, front row) Michael Smith, Dick Scobee and Ronald McNair.

Their courage and ambition continue to inspire us all.

Sponsors

Sponsored by El Camino College, Honda, Chevron, and the El Camino College Foundation

Questions?

Please email [email protected].