Space has no gender

The female figure in the space area is increasingly represented by inspiring women

NewEarth Bus Stop Eco Sustainable Team (pictures provided by the students and edited to the format in display)

June 16, 1963. The date represents an important landmark: the first woman's journey into space. Alone and at the age of 26, Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova boarded the Vostok 6 ship heading for the unknown. The astronaut took 48 turns around the Earth during the 71 hours that she remained outside the Planet, starting a new era of fostering the female presence in the process of space exploration.

Decades later, two Americans would also make history. In October 2019, Jessica Meir and Christina Koch were the protagonists of the first space tour carried out exclusively by women. The astronauts were also part of NASA's 2013 class, the first to be formed 50% by men and women. Altogether, women have participated in 43 of the 221 orbital tours ever made, increasingly conquering their “space” in this area.
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Names like Anna Fisher, Eileen Collins, Shannon Lucy and Sally Ride, for example, have inspired the new generation of female space explorers, who have realized that there are not enough strong barriers to stop them from achieving their dreams. The conquest of Meir and Koch was just the beginning.

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Simone Keller Fütcher (photo by Vinicius Fantuchi)

​The female presence in the Science Days Challenge

In the Science Days Challenge, girls also stand out. Third place in the elementary school 2 category for the best science concept, the students from the schools Padre Anchieta, Manuela Melo, Laís Câmara, Nathália Campos and Thaís Storani, developed the Sustainable Shelter at the Bus Stop of Jundiai Shopping project.

The project was evaluated by many experts, one of them is the consultant, researcher, teacher at the Estácio de Sá institution at the state of Santa Catarina in Brazil, speaker and pilot of airplanes, Simone Keller Fütcher. "I see that it is super important for us to plant the dream in young people," said the judge, who is also actively working on other initiatives that seek to reach girls' interest in science – by promoting dynamic activities and scholarships for female students.
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Mentored by Professor Suely Zani, the team said that the experience of participating in Science Days was unlike anything they had done before. "We learned to always have our minds thinking about innovative ideas and how to help others with a simple act", said Laís. The group also added that they believe that each participant seeks to impact not only their local community, but the world. “It was great to know that our project is part of such a nice initiative”, said Thaís.
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By working together, we intend to continue to inspire excitement and enthusiasm within the world’s youth about STEAM and how accomplishments in these fields have – and will continue to – revolutionize the way we live, concluded Carla Michaelis, KSCIA's Project Manager.
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To learn more about Science Days, please visit ScienceDays.org

- Luma Keily
International Correspondent
 

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