Kids may not be able to work in teams for virtual Purdue Space Day, but the 2020 format is adding six activities. 

Purdue Space Day has never quite been like this.

In its first 24 years, the one-day educational outreach event had a registration cap. It had to, really, with space and resource constraints. Even then, it continued to grow, reaching a program-high 855 participants in 2019.

But with the COVID-19 pandemic limiting all large event gatherings at Purdue University, there was only one choice for one of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ signature events in 2020: Go virtual, like seemingly everything else in this environment.

With that decision made, Purdue Space Day went wide open. There were no limits on the number of third-through-eighth graders that could participate in the event that provides an opportunity to learn about STEM by participating in age-appropriate activities with a space theme.

The response has been resounding.

As of Oct. 19, more than 4,230 kids had been registered, representing 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and four other countries. That’s quite a statement for an event that typically hosts Indiana residents with a handful of participants from surrounding states.

And it’s not even done.

Registrations will continue to be accepted through Oct. 23, one day before the event, which is free for participants.

“Certainly that’s one of the benefits of hosting this event remotely, we can reach more students and we aren’t limited to geographic proximity,” said Elmer F. Bruhn Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Michael Sangid, who has been faculty advisor for Purdue Space Day since 2014. “Having PSD bigger than ever this year is exciting, as it gives us a medium to reach more participants that wouldn’t be able to travel to Purdue even under normal circumstances. Plus, with so many events being canceled this year, this is an outstanding opportunity for the participants to have a fun event to look forward to. At the same time, we’re reaching a broader cross-section of kids and introducing them to STEM fields related to space exploration.” 

PSD program administrator Chell Nyquist agreed 2020 will be a “very unique Purdue Space Day.” It certainly has been for Nyquist and members of the PSD executive board behind the scenes. Especially in planning the event.

Many of the PSD materials were stored in Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering, waiting to be packed into boxes and shipped. 

“Our executive board starting planning back in January to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Purdue Space Day on campus,” Nyquist said, “but they have embraced the virtual event and are very excited to be part of the largest Purdue Space Day ever.”

With attendance limitations set in a normal year, ordering materials is straight forward. The event pairs third and fourth graders, fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth, and knowing the maximum numbers for each grade band allows for calculating accurate material quantities. With an open registration in 2020, there was no way to predict that number. Nyquist purchased materials for 3,000 participants.

During a typical PSD, teamwork is encouraged, so typically enough material is purchased for 120 teams of three. But with a virtual event, materials needed to be purchased for every participant, increasing the volume 25 times what is normally ordered, Nyquist said.

“Now we had to prep 27,000 activity kits rather than our usual 1,200,” Nyquist said. “That led to an exponential increase in the time to prepare and package each activity. In a normal year, we would recruit 40-50 volunteers to come for an afternoon and sit in a classroom to prep all the materials. This year, we have been complying with the University’s COVID-19 guidelines and have limited the number of people preparing materials.”

The third floor suite in the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering has been transformed this fall from a study space occupied by students into a glorified storage closet.

Among its contents at times in the last six weeks: 120,000 mini marshmallows, 90,000 toothpicks, 32,000 cotton balls, 26,000 craft sticks, 18,000 plastic sandwich bags, 18,000 paper bags, 15,000 drinking straws and 6,000 balloons. Nyquist bought 50,400 feet of string and 15,600 yards of fishing line — two rolls of 7,140 yards and two rolls of 660 yards. He rigged a 10-foot board with nails at 7.5 and 9 feet to loop and then cut the fishing line into 5-yard pieces and the string into 3-yard pieces.

Nyquist started packing boxes Sept. 27 and started shipping them on Oct. 8, in hopes all would be delivered in time. Parents who registered children after Oct. 1 weren’t guaranteed to get supplies in time, but a list of what’s needed for the activities is listed on PSD’s website.

“To accommodate the overwhelming response and the fact we were only able to purchase materials for 3,000, we are sending the others a modified kit with the Purdue Space Day pencil, a film canister and antacid tablets, the only materials not easily available in small quantities,” Nyquist said.

Though supplies may have gone up, the overall group of volunteers had to be cut.

Jose Hernandez, the VIP guest in 2019, also is a guest in 2020, along with four other astronauts. 

In recent years, PSD had about 200 volunteers to supervise and lead students to various activities and another couple hundred to run activities across 20-plus locations on campus. This year, the event will be broadcast from Elliott Hall of Music. Past volunteers who responded to a callout were selected by the PSD exec board to volunteer in 2020, and 36 were chosen. Each of the nine activities has four student volunteers presenting, and the 10 exec board members will oversee the event.

Even with the somewhat-organized chaos behind the scenes, the expectations still are high for an informative, inspiring, exciting day for participants on Oct. 24.

“I think it will still be a very rewarding experience,” Nyquist said. “While kids may not be able to experience bumping into an astronaut during the day, they will get to hear from five astronauts, which is something that wouldn’t be feasible on campus. Participants will get to experience nine activities, too, which is six more than they would during a normal Space Day.”

This year’s theme is “Sailing the Silver Sky.” All activities will focus on learning about aspects of the mission planning involved in returning to the Moon. The nine activities highlight different aspects of mission planning from the initial logistics (how many astronauts, how long a mission, what type of mission and where to land) to spacecraft and lander design (learning about rocket propellants and designing a heat shield, spacecraft recovery system and lunar landing systems). 

As in previous years, participants will engage in three activities during the event. But this year, they will be able to complete the other six activities on their own time. Videos will be available on YouTube for participants to complete all nine activities and for teachers to use in their classrooms.

Kids will be encouraged to use the chat function during the virtual event and also post their designs on social media with the hashtag #PurdueSpaceDay2020 to be shared by Purdue Space Day’s and AAE’s accounts.

Though kids won't be flooding Purdue's campus this year, all activities will have live demonstrations.

The virtual format will mix live activity demonstrations by Purdue Space Day volunteers from Elliott with pre-recorded content, mostly from a panel of VIP astronaut guests. The astronauts will answer questions that were submitted in advance from participants and offer short presentations, spread over three segments, throughout the day. In 2020, AAE alumnus Charlie Walker will make his fourth PSD appearance (2007, 2012, 2018), the most of any VIP guest. AAE alum Mark Brown (1998, 2005), Purdue alumni Jerry Ross (2016) and Tingle (2015) and Jose Hernandez (2019) also will appear.

The event will open at 10 a.m. Eastern with one of the astronaut presentations and close with another astronaut presentation at 3 p.m.

“For the 25^th anniversary of Purdue Space Day, this event will be bigger and reach more participants than ever before. This is a testament to the resiliency and imagination of the students running Purdue Space Day,” Sangid said. “Despite the many unexpected challenges that 2020 has brought to us, it has not diminished the enthusiasm or quality of the upcoming Space Day event.”

T-shirts will be available for purchase at a later date. Follow AAE’s Facebook and Twitter for the latest information.