‘NASA STEM Stars’: Director of the Office of Communication and Public Engagement

NASA Role Model: Mrs. Hortense Diggs, director of the Office of Communication and Public Engagement at Kennedy Space Center
NASA Center: Kennedy Space Center
Topic:  Hortense Diggs and her Journey to NASA Kennedy director of the Office of Communication and Public Engagement
Original Air Date: March 17, 2021

Hortense Diggs is the director of the Office of Communications and Public Engagement at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She began her career at NASA in 2000 as a flight assurance manager in the Expendable Launch Vehicles Safety and Flight Assurance Office at Kennedy.

STEM Short Activity: Making a Paper Mars Helicopter
Objective: Design and improve a paper helicopter
Duration: 60 minutes
Materials Needed: Plain paper, template, scissors, measuring taps, pencil, 3-meter length of ribbon or smartphone camera
Difficulty: Medium

Next Generation Science Standards: K-2-ETS1-3, 3-PS2-1, 3-PS2-2, 3-5-ETS1-3, 5-PS2-1

Common Core State Math Practice: 2.MD.A, 3.MD.A, 3.MD.B.3, 5.OA.B.3, 5.G.A.2

“NASA STEM Stars” is a webchat series. Each chat introduces a science, technology, engineering or math career, addresses a STEM topic and highlights a NASA mission. The chat includes a STEM activity that students can do at home. After the interviews, experts answer students’ questions.