Girls in STEM Inspired to Fly High at NASA Kennedy | Space

For the third straight year, scores of young women flew to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to learn how to make their aviation dreams take flight as part of the Delta Air Lines Women Inspiring our Next Generation (WING) program. Their Boeing 737 aircraft, piloted by an all-female crew, carried 130 girls, ages 11 to 18, who hail from Atlanta area schools and aviation organizations with a strong focus on STEM.

They departed Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport just after sunrise on Sept. 20 and just a few hours later, stepped onto the runway of Kennedy’s Launch and Landing Facility, where dozens of space shuttle missions landed and current-day NASA astronauts arrive at ahead of their launches to the International Space Station.

“For more than 60 years, Kennedy Space Center has been the launching point for many of the missions that have inspired the nation and challenged generations of students to reach for the stars,” said NASA Kennedy Director Janet Petro. “As an aviator myself, today is especially exciting because it showcases the diverse range of career opportunities available to young women interested in pursuing fields in science, technology, engineering, and math.”

The girls received a bus tour of NASA Kennedy facilities and photo opportunities at Launch Complex 39B, where the first woman to set foot on the Moon will launch in the…