Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery set for Oct. 26 at Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus
Free science event inspires & equips next generation of explorers
(Joint release with the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium)
Release Date: 9/18/2019
HONOLULU, Sept. 18, 2019 – Registration is now open for the 18th annual Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery to be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Kamehameha Schools Kapalama Campus. To register for the event and the full workshop schedule, visit: http://www.spacegrant.hawaii.edu/Day-of-discovery/index.html.
The free science event, which honors the life and legacy of the late astronaut who grew up in Honolulu, is designed for students in grades 3-12, parents, and educators of all grade levels, with more than 20 hands-on, interactive workshops covering science, technology, engineering and math topics.
Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and NASA astronaut Joseph M. Acaba are the featured keynote speakers. Acaba, an educator who taught high school science and middle school math and science before his arrival at NASA, is also the first astronaut of Puerto Rican heritage. The California native has logged 306 days in space on three flights.
Thompson, who went to school with Veach, connected students in Hawaii with the crew of the space shuttle Columbia when both men were on expeditions in 1992 – Thompson on the ocean aboard the voyaging canoe Hokulea and Veach orbiting in space aboard Columbia. The conversations between the students and crews on both vessels highlighted the importance of exploration.
Born on Sept. 18, 1944, Charles Lacy Veach graduated from Punahou School and received an engineering degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy. He had a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot before joining NASA, where he flew on two space missions and logged 436 hours in space. Veach died Oct. 3, 1995, in Houston, Texas. He would have been 75 years old today.
Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery is sponsored by Hawaiian Electric, Kamehameha Schools and the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium with support from the Chatlos Foundation, NASA, and the family of Lacy Veach.
