Washougal High School junior, Brian Choi, is one of just 160 students from across the state to earn a spot in the Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) Summer Residency Program. Choi’s high academic performance on the WAS Phase One curriculum qualified him to attend.
team of 11-12 students to work cooperatively to plan a human mission to Mars with support from professional engineers/scientists, university students, and certificated educators. “The biggest challenge to supporting life on Mars is really the distance,” he said. “If they run into a problem or something needs to be fixed, there is no way to communicate with Earth quickly. They have to solve problems and manage everything themselves.”
WHS Math teacher Jason Blaesing was Choi’s faculty advisor. Blaesing is also a WAS online evaluator and a counselor during the summer program. “The amount of work these kids have to do to qualify is incredible,” he said. “And this is added on to their regular high school course work which often includes Advanced Placement classes. It is just wonderful when you see all that hard work pay off for them.”
