Blumenthal and Discovery Place Take Students (and Grown-Ups!) on Incredible Adventures with National Geographic Live!

What's it like being strapped aboard a roaring NASA space shuttle zooming at 17,000 miles per hour, slurping a Thanksgiving meal from a pouch so your dinner won't float away, or looking at the earth while hovering 250 miles above it? Nearly 600 local kids recently found out, as former astronaut Terry Virts took them on an out-of-this-world adventure with inspiring photos and stories from his two missions into outer space.

Virts spoke January 29 to the elementary and middle school-aged crowd at McGlohon Theater for National Geographic Live! View From Above, a unique initiative co-presented by Blumenthal Performing Arts and Discovery Place Science and sponsored by CompuCom. It was the second in a three-part series featuring lectures by world-class explorers and photographers, as well as museum-based experiences for attendees to delve deeper into related topics. 

Each presentation has an evening program, open to the general public, and a daytime event especially for school groups. Next up is National Geographic Live! On The Trail of Big Cats on March 26.

"The collaboration with Blumenthal on the Nat Geo events has allowed us to give our guests a multi-platform experience that engages the mind, the senses and the imaginations," said Debra Smul, Chief Marketing Officer at Discovery Place. 

WHAT A VIEW!

Virts, who piloted the Space Shuttle Endeavor and spent 200 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), has taken over 300,000 photos from outer space -- more than any other person. His images were the basis for the National Geographic book View From Above and were featured in the IMAX film A Beautiful Planet.

While aboard the ISS, Virts and his international crew mates orbited the earth about once every 90 minutes, providing them with extraordinary views of every part of the planet: from watching the aurora borealis over Moscow and lightning storms illuminate the African continent to spotting the shimmering blue waters of the Caribbean Sea.

But along with its beauty, Virts also observed the earth's fragility in the presence of natural and manmade threats, like hurricanes and tropical storms, pollution from coal-burning power plants and the deforestation of Amazon rainforests. There's no plan B for our planet, he advised students -- there's only plan A.

"You gotta learn how to make us electricity without making pollution," said Virts, challenging his young audiences to look toward the future. 

"All the photos, the view, really captured me," said 11-year-old Nikki, a student at Mount Holly Middle School, who wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the NASA logo. "All the things you can see from up high in space. Like I noticed all the world's problems from space."

Virts shared other lessons from his experiences too, like the importance of exercise and nutrition. For example, astronauts work out 2 ½ hours each day to prevent muscle atrophy in a weightless environment and take Vitamin D supplements to combat osteoporosis. (“You don’t get sunlight when you live in a can,” said Virts.) But perhaps his most powerful messages were on the importance of collaborating with others, like his international crew did during some of the most tense moments of the cold war, and to believe in oneself.

“The dreams you have, the gifts and talents you’ve been given—don’t tell yourself ‘no,’” said Virts, recalling how his passion for space began at a young age with TV shows like Star Trek and books like The Right Stuff. 

“My journey to space didn’t start on the launchpad,” said Virts. “It started when I was a kid… at a really young age, I was captured.”

Virts told them you don’t have to come from a certain kind of background to pursue your dreams. Neither of his parents attended college, but they encouraged his interest in science and flight even when others told him he couldn’t do it.

CONNECTING WITH KIDS AND SCHOOLS

“I think it was really exciting to talk to a real astronaut,” said Ben, a 6th grader at Epiphany School of Charlotte, a school specialized in teaching kids with social and communication challenges, such as Aspergers or Autism. He had the chance to ask Virts a question during the Q & A session following the presentation. “I kind of want to go to space.”

Sarah Harris, a 4th grade teacher at Hawks Nest STEAM Academy in Gaston County, said the National Geographic Live! events have been a perfect fit with her school’s curriculum, which focuses on science and the Arts.

“I’ve never seen them so engaged in a presentation,” said Harris. Her students were able to attend the first two events, thanks to generous support provided by CompuCom and donors to Blumenthal’s Arts For All ticket scholarship program.

In preparation for View From Above, 6th graders at Charlotte Lab School developed their own independent research questions about space to explore. And they were actively finding those answers via hands-on activities at Discovery Place Science following Virts' presentation. Students were busy making model rockets, learning how to use a telescope, and discovering why space suits are made from the same materials used in bulletproof vests.

“It was all sparked from this View From Above experience,” said their teacher, Matthew Piscitelli. “This is what I’ve always loved about Discovery Place and Blumenthal. They’re always open to outreach to schools and students to provide an authentic learning experience that connects with what the city is doing.”

Introducing children to the cultural resources of the city is important so they see learning doesn’t just happen inside the walls of a school.

“Life is learning,” Piscitelli said. “As an educator, I always want life to feel like learning and learning to feel like life.”

Celebrating those real-life connections between the Arts and science is also a key reason why CompuCom has taken a leading role on this project.

“The opportunity to sponsor Nat Geo Live! was timely for CompuCom,” said Ken Jackowitz, CompuCom’s Chief Product and Marketing Officer. “When we think of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, the Arts are crucial to technology and computer science. They are the tool that allows technology to be usable in real life. Arts are used in user interface design, usability, and design thinking to name a few. What a wonderful way for us to encourage the Arts by sponsoring such a wonderful and thought-provoking event as Nat Geo Live! with Blumenthal Performing Arts and Discovery Place.”

NEXT UP!

Nat Geo Live! On The Trail of Big Cats: Award-winning photographer Steve Winter will share stories and photos of his adventures around the world—from following tigers in the Asian jungles and tracking rare snow leopards in the Himalayas to glimpsing the elusive jaguar in the rainforests of Latin America. The event also includes hands-on, immersive activities at Discovery Place.

National Geographic Live! On The Trail of Big Cats

March 26, 2019

7:30 pm

McGlohon Theater

Click here for information on the daytime program especially for school groups. Space is still available for the March 26 school show.