MCCers boost their learning opportunities with rocket tours
Not all learning occurs within the walls of a classroom or online; ask a few Meridian
Community College students and faculty members.
Thanks to the College and the Mississippi Space Grant Consortium, the MCC students embarked on a remarkable tour of the Large Liquid Rocket Engine Assembly Facility and Aerojet Rocketdyne, both at the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, gaining an unforgettable glimpse into the frontiers of space exploration.
The group toured Test Stand A2, heard presentations about various opportunities with NASA, and learned about the space shuttle engines for use on the Space Launch System used for NASA's Artemis Project. Aerojet Rocketdyne has the task of refurbishing those engines, preparing them for flight, and testing them.
"I had a great time on the Stennis trip," said Daniel Bihn, an MCC Precision Machining Engineering Technology Program student. "It was probably the most fun that I've had on a school-related trip," Bihn said after walking on a 10th-story grate walkway, "that's where I overcame my fear of heights."
"We also got to put our thumbprints on the cone of the rocket engine, so our DNA will launch into space," he added.