New Go For Launch! Event Manager

Go For Launch! Alabama

Mission Complete!

Help Higher Orbits continue to provide these GO FOR LAUNCH! events. Your donation ensures that our organization continues to excite and educate children about SPACE and STEM!


Presenting Team

Team may be subject to change due to schedules.

Captain Wendy Lawrence is a retired naval aviator and NASA astronaut. As a helicopter pilot, she made several shipboard deployments to the North Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Kenya. After earning a master’s degree in ocean engineering from MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), Lawrence was selected as an astronaut in 1992 and worked at NASA for 14 years. A veteran of four shuttle missions (STS-67, 86, 91 and 114), she has logged over 50 days in space.

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Michelle Lucas spent 10+ years working at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. First as part of the International Space Station (ISS) Payload Safety Review Panel (PSRP) and then in the Mission Operations Directorate as a Flight Controller in ISS Mission Control and as an Astronaut Instructor in the ISS Daily Operations Group. Additionally, she worked with each of the International Partners (European Space Agency – ESA, Japanese Space Agency – JAXA, and the Russian Space Agency) in the field of Daily Operations, Flight Controller, and Instructor Training. Michelle was part of the Core NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) team for 9 missions where astronauts would carry out analog space missions underwater in the Aquarius habitat. Along the way, Michelle found she has a passion for launching the next generation’s dreams and ambitions. Her passion for inspiring students led to extensive work with other organizations in STEM outreach so she founded the non-profit Higher Orbits to use space to excite and inspire students about STEM, Leadership, Teamwork, and Communication. Michelle is proud to be a Space Camp Alum, AIAA Associate Fellow, and member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame. She believes that collaboration in space and STEM is the key to the stars! Space Inspires!

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Natasha is a recently licensed architect working at BRPH in Huntsville, Alabama. She has been living and working in Huntsville since graduating with a B. Arch from Syracuse University in 2020. She came to Huntsville to pursue her interests in spacecraft design for human habitation with an internship at NASA MSFC. After a year there, she came to BRPH in order to fulfill her architectural licensure requirements and support human space exploration from a different perspective. Her primary interests are still in the aerospace, science, and engineering realms, but she enjoys working on education projects a lot as well. Her specialized skills include advanced modeling and rendering, software development and automation, graphic design, and parametric design and analysis. In her spare time, Natasha enjoys training her two dogs, playing video games, hiking, gardening, and swimming.

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Supported by Sponsors:

Pluto Pioneers

Intergalactic Voyagers

Event Location Details

Madison Public Library
142 Plaza Blvd Madison, AL 35758


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