TORRANCE — Local students in Grades 5-12 will gather at El Camino College on Saturday, March 4, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain or shine) for the 2023 Onizuka Space Science Day.
This year’s featured speaker will be former NASA astronaut Daniel M. Tani, who participated in multiple spaceflights from 2001 to 2008. His first mission on the space shuttle Endeavour logged 4.8 million miles in 283 hours, and encompassed 185 orbits around the Earth.
In addition to Tani’s address, the event will include classroom presentations and experiments led by El Camino College professors and students as well as guests from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and other institutions. Col. Mia L. Walsh, commander, Space Base Delta 3 of the U.S. Space Force, will also lead hands-on demonstrations.
This free annual event is sponsored by the Ellison S. Onizuka Memorial Committee, El Camino College, and American Honda Motor Co., Inc. This year marks the 37th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger accident that took the lives of the seven crew members, including Onizuka. Space Science Day honors Onizuka’s memory and his dream of inspiring youth to achieve their career goals.
The event will be held at El Camino College’s Marsee Auditorium, 16007 Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance.
Free lunch for the first 500 students. Online registration is currently closed, but walk-ins are welcome. However, space for session attendance will be limited. Learn more at www.elcamino.edu/spacescienceday.