El Camino College welcomed hundreds of area youngsters to Onizuka Space Science Day 2019 on March 9. Students in fifth through 12th grade enjoyed a day of science exploration at this free hands-on conference that also featured guest speaker NASA astronaut Stanley Glen Love. Astronaut Love completed his first spaceflight in 2008 to deliver the Columbus laboratory module to the International Space Station and install it there, logging more than 306 hours in space, including two spacewalks. He currently works as crew representative for the Space Launch System and continues to help plan for human exploration of asteroids, the moon, and Mars. Following the presentation, students had their choice of a variety of hands-on science activities, experiments, classroom presentations and demonstrations led by El Camino College professors, students and guests from other institutions such as Space and Missile Systems Center at LA Air Force Base, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Columbia Memorial Space Center, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The always popular egg drop competition concluded the day's events.
This year marks the 33nd anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident in which astronaut Ellison Onizuka perished along with the six other crew members. The annual event at El Camino College was created to honor Onizuka's memory and his dream of inspiring youth to strive for and achieve their career goals. Many thanks to the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Committee, and American Honda Motor Co., Inc. for their contributions as event sponsors.