COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Former NASA astronaut Duane Carey visited Widefield High School to help students see what is possible.
Carey grew up in a single-parent household in the housing projects of Saint Paul, Minnesota. When speaking to the students, he did not start by talking about space, but rather about his early failures.
"Actually failing ninth grade, a very mediocre, perhaps even a poor student," said Carey.
He said one moment stood out and changed his trajectory.
"The Apollo missions. They inspired a mediocre student to work a little bit harder," said Carey.
That hard work paid off. Carey became an Air Force pilot, a test pilot, and then joined NASA, eventually flying a mission to help repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
"I was a... fighter pilot in the Air Force and then I had the great opportunity to go to test pilot school and then that made me eligible for being a space shuttle pilot and with my education and everything, I applied and got turned down and applied again, you know, I didn't give up and they told me to come on down to Houston and learn how to fly the space shuttle," said Carey.
The Hubble is still up there producing great science.
“Some of the instruments that our team put in the telescope are still working," said Carey.
Carey shared a message of perseverance with the high schoolers.
“They don't have to be rich and famous, they don't even have to be one of the brains or one of the really smart kids. All they need to do is teach themselves how to learn new things and learn them quickly,” said Carey.
Now, as the Artemis program aims to take humans back to the moon, Carey said the mission is about discovering more.
"We are going to learn the skills that we need master in order to take the big leap onto Mars," said Carey.
Widefield High School student Jadalyn McKague is in the school's astronomy class and said the upcoming missions are exciting.
"Artemis in general colonizing the moon, colonizing Mars, is just a wonderful opportunity that our generation's gonna get to see," said McKague.
For the students, having a live example of a former astronaut makes a future in space exploration feel closer. Widefield High School student Cason Miner said he was interested in learning about Carey's experiences.
"I thought it was really interesting, actually seeing and experiencing someone that... was actually there and was spending time in space," said Miner.
Widefield High School student Tanner Greer said he joined astronomy class because he thought it was cool to learn about what is outside of Earth.
"I didn't realize how much hard work it really was... and how much training it was for him and... how much he really had to keep doing the same thing," said Greer. "I've thought it'd be cool to work in NASA, I feel it's kind of almost impossible. Until now."
The visit is already having a direct impact on the students' ambitions, leaving them with one key takeaway.
"It inspired me to actually participate in a contest, have a patch of mine sent to space, which is happening," said McKague. "I think the biggest takeaway is that, no matter where you come from or what you are, you can do anything and be anything that you wanna be."
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Did you spot the 'Doomsday' and 'Electronic Attack' aircraft circling Colorado Springs this week?
You might have seen a unique aircraft in the skies of Colorado Springs Monday. There's plenty of social media buzz about it.
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