Challenger Center

This year, Space Center Houston will launch the first Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC) Summit, an intensive one-day professional learning experience designed to bring the spirit of SEEC to educators in communities across the country.

The inaugural SEEC Summit will be held at the Challenger Learning Center at Montgomery County Community College in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. 🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/3StTnd7

Congrats to Space Exploration Educators Conference (SEEC), one of our Challenger-7 Recognition recipients! 🎉

Hosted annually at Space Center Houston, the Official Visitor Center for NASA Johnson Space Center, SEEC invites educators from around the world to experience the rigor and wonder of space exploration. The three-day conference features immersive sessions with NASA scientists and engineers, hands-on experiences inspired by astronaut training, and opportunities for educators to connect and collaborate. For 32 years, SEEC has helped educators bring the excitement of space exploration into their classrooms.

Challenger Center and Space Center Houston are also announcing a new partnership to help expand access to SEEC for educators nationwide.

🔗 Read more: https://challenger.org/news-insights/space-exploration-educators-conference-challenger-7-recognition/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=40th_anniversary

What better way to spend May the Fourth (aka Star Wars Day) than a Q&A with a bestselling sci-fi author, moderated by the president of a space education organization, with guest appearances from two former NASA astronauts? 🚀

🔗 Read a full recap of our Q&A with Project Hail Mary author, Andy Weir, and learn how you can participate in events like this in the future: https://challenger.org/news-insights/andy-weir-joins-challenger-center-for-an-exclusive-qa-on-stem-storytelling/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

In honor of 🏳️‍🌈, we're spotlighting just a small fraction of the many LGBTQ+ pioneers whose incredible achievements and innovations have benefited humankind: Sally Ride, Alan Turing, Lynn Conway, and Sara Josephine Baker.

A common barrier to STEM careers isn't ability, but misinformation. Too many people talk themselves out of pursuing STEM because they believe they don't have the right skillset, education, or identity.

That's why we're here to set the record straight: if you are interested in STEM, you belong in STEM! 🚀

And it's never too early or too late to spark that interest. 🔗 Explore our STEM education program offerings: https://challenger.org/programs/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

"People told me for months, sometimes jokingly and sometimes seriously, that building a 'space center' in rural Alabama sounded impossible," shared Dr. Farrah Hayes, Executive Director of Challenger Learning Center of Northeast Alabama. "So when visitors stepped through those doors and saw the planets hanging overhead, the simulator spaces, and the energy inside the Center, they reacted with awe."

🔗 Read more from Farrah on the grand opening of Challenger Center's newest Center in Rainbow City, Alabama: https://challenger.org/news-insights/a-new-home-for-stem-in-northeast-alabama/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

📣 Center Spotlight: Challenger Learning Center, Wheeling, WV

Each of our 30+ Challenger Learning Centers is designed to bring immersive, hands-on STEM education to students in their local communities. In celebration of our 40th Anniversary, we're spotlighting these incredible Centers throughout 2026 🚀 💫

📍 Are you near Wheeling, West Virginia? 🔗 Visit clcwheeling.org to learn more and book a Mission.

🔎 If not, don't worry! Visit challenger.org/Centers to find out which of our Centers is closest to you!

NASA engineer visits Bangor High School to inspire students to explore STEM BANGOR -- Students at Bangor High School received a visit on Thursday from a NASA engineer as part of the challenger learning center of Maine's 40th anniversary initiative.