Fullerton College Students Complete VIP Experience at Kennedy Space Center

The Fullerton College Applied Engineering Club, accompanied by Dean of the Technology and Engineering Division, Kenneth Starkman, recently completed a three-day VIP event at the Kennedy Space Center. The VIP event was part of the team’s prize for winning first place at the 2024 NASA Minority Innovative New Designs for Space (MINDS) competition.

The three-day experience featured a tour of the entire space center complex, Cape Canaveral and the Space Force military base. The tour also included the Artemis rocket, an exclusive, off-limits area to the public.

Students also received a tour of the manufacturing area of Blue Origin, an American aerospace manufacturer, government contractor and launch service provider of space technologies, given by a lead engineer.

The team witnessed the launch of the Falcon 9, the world’s first orbital reusable rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into the earth’s orbit and beyond.

“The team at Kennedy Space Center provided an amazing VIP experience. Our students were literally in a classified area at an arm’s distance from the technology that will take the next astronauts to the moon. Being there with the ability to ask the engineers questions was a transformative experience.” said Starkman.

This story originally ran in the Fullerton College News Center