BALDWINSVILLE – Eighth-grader Charlotte DuBois of Baldwinsville, a Girl Scout Cadette in Troop 10210 and a member of the NYPENN Pathways (GSNYPENN) Council is one of 81 winners from across the country of the “Girl Scouts to the Moon and Back” national essay contest.
Girls shared how they saw their role in space exploration using creative writing skills and research facts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Essay winners were awarded a Girl Scout badge that traveled 1.4 million miles to the moon and back aboard NASA’s Artemis I mission in late 2022. Charlotte was presented with her Space Science Researcher badge by Col. Eileen Collins (USAF, Ret.) during a special event for Girl Scouts on Saturday, April 22, at Onondaga Community College.
Collins, a Girl Scout alum, has many local ties. A native of Elmira, she’s also a graduate of SUNY Corning Community College and Syracuse University. From her Air Force experience as a flight instructor and test pilot to her incredible achievement of being the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and first to command a Space Shuttle mission, Col. Collins was the perfect role model to present this very special badge to DuBois.
“Touching something that has flown around the moon and back is really moving and makes you realize that so much is possible! It was a really cool experience meeting Col. Collins. She brings so much positivity and hope for women with her inspiring stories of being an aviator and commanding the Space Shuttle. Plus, shaking hands with an astronaut is pretty amazing,” DuBois said.
Artemis I was NASA’s first uncrewed test flight of the agency’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket to the moon.
The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission launched in 2022 on Nov. 16 with the Girl Scout science badges aboard and splashed down on Dec. 11. Artemis I is NASA’s first step toward the goal of sending the first woman and the first person of color to the moon. The mission also involved Girl Scout alums NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and first female launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson.
“We’re ‘over the moon’ that Charlotte received this special recognition,” says GSNYPENN CEO Julie Dale. “Our mission at Girl Scouts is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who pursue their dreams. Charlotte exemplifies that and we encourage her to keep aiming high.”
The partnership between NASA and Girl Scouts is an ideal match. Girl Scouts’ commitment to encouraging girls to discover and excel in STEM fields has yielded real results: Girl Scouts are almost twice as likely as non–Girl Scouts to participate in STEM activities (60 percent versus 35 percent), and 77 percent of girls say that because of Girl Scouts, they are considering a career in technology.