New York Students Can Help Lead The Next Space Age

The new era of space exploration has begun.

By the time you’re reading this, the Artemis II mission will be complete, the first time in more than half a century that astronauts have traveled to the moon. Over the course of 10 days, Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Royal Canadian Air Force Col. Jeremy Hansen traveled farther from Earth than any crew before them, completing a sweeping loop around the far side of the moon.

Their flight tested every major system of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft in real deep?space conditions, the same systems that will support future lunar landings and, eventually, missions to Mars. At their most distant point, the crew traveled more than 230,000 miles from Earth and flew roughly 4,600 miles beyond the moon itself.

As NASA pushes the boundaries of exploration, we should be pushing opportunities for young New Yorkers to pursue careers in engineering, robotics and advanced manufacturing. The next generation of scientists and explorers is sitting in our classrooms right now, in our public schools, our Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) career and technical programs and our local colleges. Investing in these programs is an investment in discovery, innovation and our future.

Exploration and advancement are among humanity’s greatest feats. They are why we moved from caves and campfires to cities and cutting-edge technology. When Apollo astronauts first set foot on the moon in 1969, they unlocked discoveries that reshaped modern life. Advances in computing, materials science and telecommunications all trace back to innovations driven by the Apollo missions. Imagine what we will uncover when they return.

We must continue to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) pathways and support the educators who teach them to give our students a direct line to the high?tech careers that missions like Artemis are creating. Whether it’s a welding lab at Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation BOCES or the engineering program at SUNY Oswego, the next generation of innovators is right here in our communities. Supporting STEM education at home means giving our students an opportunity to be part of the next era of discovery.

One of the Artemis II astronauts, Cmdr. Wiseman, is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, a reminder that the path to deep?space exploration can begin right here in upstate New York. Congratulations to the crew on a safe return home and on an extraordinary mission!

If you have any questions or comments on this or any other state issue, or if you would like to be added to my mailing list or receive my newsletter, please contact my office. My office can be reached by mail at 19 Canalview Mall, Fulton, NY 13069 and by email at [email protected]. You may also find me, Assemblyman Will Barclay, on Facebook or X at @WillABarclay.

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