NASA welcomed Romanieo Golphin Jr. to the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on March 24 to speak with Center Director Chris Scolese and tour the facilities where scientific spacecraft are made and their data analyzed.
Whether orbiting his father’s legs, naming ions based on their numbers of electrons or experimenting with a remote-controlled robotic arm, the 7-year-old Romanieo charmed Scolese, Deputy Director for Technology and Research Investments Christyl Johnson and other hosts.
“Do you want to come to Goddard to work with us?” Scolese asked Romanieo. “Say yes,” Scolese prompted.
“I can help you,” Romanieo replied.
Romanieo has a hunger for science, said his father, Romanieo Golphin Sr. The boy was previously invited to visit the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which runs the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. CERN physicist Steven Goldfarb Told Romaieo he would make an excellent ambassador for the research institution’s ATLAS experiment, Golphin Sr. said. Romanieo has observed university classes at Morehouse College in Atlanta and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
During Romanieo’s visit, he toured the Earth Science Mission Operations facility and the Satellite Servicing Projects Office, viewed the James Webb Space Telescope and saw science data projected on Goddard’s data visualization Hyperwall facility.
Romanieo’s parents, Golphin Sr. and Cheri Philip, said they home schooled their son under the belief that any child can achieve amazing things with the right cultivation. Golphin said his son’s science education includes frequent trips to museums in Washington, D.C., when they would drive right by Goddard and talk about visiting some day. His education is also balanced with time for play, art, Legos and “purposeful quiet” meditation, his father said, and Romanieo has perfect pitch and enjoys playing guitar.
They create their own curriculum, sometimes day-by-day. Golphin Sr. said, and a visit like this really helps the learning come alive. “It’s incredible getting your hands dirty, and making the abstract concrete in terms of the science, for at least one day.”