Midwest City Middle School students taking NASA app challenge
Midwest City Middle School students are competing in a NASA app designing challenge. Photo by Jeff Harrison
By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon
Students at Midwest City Middle School are putting their brains to the test.
A group of students are competing in a NASA app challenge.
They have been tasked with designing an app that will track the Artemis II mission which promises to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. They must create a 3D rendering of the Artemis and provide information about satellites and communication pools.
The Artemis campaign aims to establish a lunar settlement that would serve as a base of operations for deep space missions including trips to Mars. NASA announced last week that it’s delaying its Artemis II and Artemis III missions by at least one more year. The missions are expected to happen in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Students haven’t been able to complete the app due to technical difficulties. The program they were using wasn’t able to create 3D renders. Instead, students will submit a video presentation and receive a recognition kit from NASA.
Principal Kenyelle Williams said they conducted a school-wide fundraiser to purchase a new computer and software to complete the challenge, but they did not receive it in time.
Despite the setback, students are excited about competing in the app challenge next year.
“Now that we know what to use and what to do, we can come back next year and easily go through the competitions,” said Titus Mehdipour, a sixth grader. “One of our thoughts was to still hold meetings after the NASA period was over and keep learning.”
Jody Cook, a sixth-grade science teacher, heard about NASA app challenge and asked students if they wanted to enter.
They kicked off the contest and had a Zoom meeting with NASA representatives on Oct. 3. They meet after school on Friday and during lunch for the past few weeks.
Students include Brooklyn Egbert, Taylor Lozier, Liam Paquette, Titus Mehdipour, Sydney Moglia, Marley Kabatra, Katherine Kerl, Emily Vogel, Milo Rogers and teacher Jody Cook. Students have different roles on the team. They work on coding, photos/videos and graphic design.
“Everybody has their job, and they have been working independently and we’re about to get it all together,” Cook said.
Students enjoyed learning about the process of creating an app and working with one another.
The group also has a mentor. Austin Boyle, who works at Tinker AFB, has helped students on the project.
Midwest City Middle School students are competing in a NASA app designing challenge. Photo by Jeff Harrison
