UTC’s hidden gem: Visitors can fly into space at the Challenger STEM Learning Center

Founded in 1994, UTC’s Challenger STEM Learning Center annually educates thousands of K-12 students. Photo by Angela Foster.

In 1962, John F. Kennedy declared that the United States would send a man to the moon, changing the course of history and inspiring a generation to wonder what’s beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga offers a place to foster the curiosity encouraged by that speech with the Challenger STEM Learning Center.

Established in honor of the seven-person crew who tragically lost their lives in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, the UTC Challenger STEM Learning Center was created to educate and inspire the next generation. The initiative was led by June Scobee Rodgers—the wife of Challenger Captain Richard Scobee—and the families of the crew.

The center aims to carry on a forward-looking legacy rooted in curiosity, collaboration, innovation and perseverance, according to its webpage. “We strive to cultivate tomorrow’s creative problem solvers through meaningful learning experiences, interactive adventures, and team-building exercises for a wide range of grade levels and age groups.”

Built in 1994, the UTC location was the first Challenger Center built on a college campus and annually educates thousands of K-12 students.

“We were the very first, which allowed us to become educationally focused,” said Dr. Valerie Rutledge, dean of the UTC College of Health, Education and Professional Studies. “Educational opportunities range from middle-grade students up through our first-year experience classes.”

The center houses a model mission control room, a flight simulator and a spacecraft for experiments. It also has multiple breakout rooms for additional activities or educational opportunities.

There are now over 40 Challenger Centers across the country.

The center also provides an online mission, which is conducted by a space educator from the Challenger STEM Learning Center—with the assistance of teachers in the classroom.

Bill Floyd, the resident space educator, has been connected with the center since its inception and has always had a passion for space. The former teacher and engineer is one of the people who leads and educates students as they navigate the center’s activities.

“The mission objective in the Mars mission is to get a rover down on the surface of Mars and get it to explore for evidence of life and water,” Floyd explained. “Usually, the water is the first thing we try to come to because you’re going to find evidence of water, and that’s going to lead more to that evidence of life that you might be looking for.”

Floyd grew up near Cape Canaveral at the height of the Apollo program. Apollo was a United States human spaceflight program carried out by NASA from 1961-1972 which landed the first astronauts on the moon.

“When they were flying the astronauts to the moon … just going out in my backyard and watching the rockets go up. I wanted to do that,” he said. “Sure shooting, I got the opportunity to come here.

“There’s always the dreams that you have growing up as a kid that certainly can turn into good opportunities for you a little bit later on if you just stick to it and are willing to go to school for it.”

Challenger Center visitors have the opportunity to get hands-on experience in space exploration through the assistance of the center’s simulator. Groups have the chance to be in the command center, helping prepare the crew with information they accrue on the ground and in the spacecraft itself—where they perform missions and experiments.

Most of the center’s hands-on learning experiences aren’t available in a typical classroom environment.

Challenger STEM Learning Center Exploration Specialist Rob Lein is a former school teacher who knows the value of getting kids out of the classroom and into different learning environments. He helps create and run these missions, including the mission to Mars experience.

“Students at the Challenger Center can remember the crew of the Challenger and everybody that’s served in that capacity, whether on the ground or in space,” Lein said. “They also get the chance to experience the joy of space flight themselves while safely here on Earth.”

Caroline Bledsoe and Kali Glover contributed to this story.