Philly students encouraged to join NASA essay contest about space exploration and the nuclear-powered system that make it possible

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NASA is inviting students of all ages nationwide who are interested in the science of space travel to participate in an essay contest. Winners will earn a trip to NASA’s research center in Cleveland. The agency launched its fourth annual Power to Explore Student Challenge, a writing contest for U.S. students from kindergarten through 12th grade aimed at educating them about its space missions.

Students are tasked with writing an essay about a new nuclear-powered mission to a moon in a solar system of their choice. The essays should include where each student would go, what they plan to explore and how they would use radioisotope power systems, a type of nuclear battery, to achieve their mission in the cold and dark space environment. The deadline is Jan. 31, 2025.

The winners from each of three grade categories will receive a trip for two to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland to learn about the personnel and technology that make its space missions possible.

“It’s a great opportunity,” said Rene Harris, founder and director of STEM Prep Academy North Philadelphia. While she thinks the prize of a trip to NASA will be enticing to students interested in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) subjects, Harris said she worries that students from schools that haven’t been exposed to STEM classes might be reluctant to enter the contest.

A graduate of Cheyney University, Harris volunteered at Franklin Institute while in grade school, visited NASA Space Center in Houston, and later landed a National Science Foundation scholarship in 2022. She earned a Master’s degree in Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Harris said she wanted to become a doctor and studied biology, but ultimately became a STEM professional and then a biology teacher before she opened the school.

Founded during the pandemic in 2020, STEM Prep Academy’s mission is to nourish interest in STEM among pre-school and kindergarten students, focusing on children from 2-6 years old.

WHYY News contacted several schools in Philadelphia to gauge interest in the contest. A spokesperson for Mastery Charter Schools said that it has shared the essay contest information with teachers and students at the two dozen schools in Philadelphia and Camden it operates.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C., said this essay contest might just find the next great space scientists.

“NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge provides the incredible opportunity for our next generation – our future explorers – to design their own daring mission missions using science, technology, engineering and mathematics to explore space and discover new science for the benefit of all, while also revealing incredible creative power within themselves. We cannot wait to see what the students dream up,” Fox said in a statement via news release.

According to NASA, freezing temperatures in space, long nights, and deep craters that are rarely exposed to sunlight necessitate the use of radioisotope power systems. This system has enabled NASA to undertake travel to some of the darkest, dustiest and harshest corners of our solar system.

In 2024, NASA selected 45 student essay semifinalists. It received 1,787 contest entries from 48 states and Puerto Rico. Ridgewood, NJ student Thomas Lui is the current essay champion in the grade 9-12 division.

According to educators, essay contests can help improve writing and research skills and critical thinking and can even build confidence in the students who compete.