NASA Astronaut Visits TESS and BCMS

Students at Tatanka Elementary STEM School (TESS) and Buffalo Community Middle School (BCMS) were "out of this world" excited to hear from NASA Astronaut and St. Paul, Minn. native Duane "DIgger" Carey. He took TESS students on a space mission and taught them the skills they needed to learn in space, such as how to eat, drink and sleep. He told them about his mission to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope and how their STEM education is important for the future.

Carey also addressed the BCMS 8th grade class where he shared he wasn't the best student, but he later learned how important school was and how it took him to outer space and back. He encouraged kids to not follow his difficult path, but rather work hard and follow their dreams.

On March 1, 2002, Carey served as the pilot on the space shuttle Columbia on STS-109, logging over 10 days in space. The mission was to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Carey documented his time in space and uses the footage to share with students in schools. While they were in orbit they circled the earth 165 times and covered 3.9 million miles in over 262 hours. Carey received his Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1981 and 1982 respectively. He received his commission from the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1981 and graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training in 1983. Carey has logged over 4,300 hours in more than 35 types of aircraft. 

Carey's visit was made possible by the generous donations from the TESS PTO and Buffalo Rotary. Thank you!