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Elian, Valeria, José André, Daniel, Diana and Celinne are 6 young Costa Ricans who have come forward, despite their economic and social conditions. That effort and dedication paid with a trip that will mark their future: a tour on the NASA, in Cabo Cañaveral, United States.
The teenagers are leading the academic excellence of the program “Soy cambio” of the Monge Foundation and were selected to participate in the launch of the new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), run by the Costa Rican Sandra Cauffman, at NASA.
They started the tour with a tour of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor, heard a talk by astronaut Jerry Ross, who shares the record of expeditions into space (7 missions) with Costa Rican Franklin Chang.
They also did the Saturn 5 Tour, where they learned all about Apollo missions, jumped in simulators, saw the rockets, spacesuits and ended with a visit to the area dedicated to the Atlantis mission.
According to Elian Mora, the experience was mind-blowing.
The program supports young Central Americans between 15 and 19 years old in poverty conditions with desire to excel, to complete their high school studies, opt for a technical career and manage to enter the labor market.
Currently, the program helps more than 600 teens in Costa Rica and 400 in Nicaragua.