RICHMOND High School’s Lachlan Kalie has been named the lucky winner of the Space Camp 2018 Competition, receiving a scholarship worth $6800 from Windsor RSL via the One Giant Leap Foundation to attend Space Camp in the USA.
Lachlan, 15 years old from Hobartville, was chosen from a number of high-quality entries from around the Hawkesbury, all keen to get a behind-the-scenes look at what is involved in being an astronaut.
The trip teaches what is involved in mission control, space transport and operating a space station, and is organised by Hawkesbury resident Jackie Slaviero and the team from One Giant Leap.
In the October school holidays, Lachlan will join students from Bede Polding, Hawkesbury High, Richmond North Public, Windsor High and Colo High schools on the journey.
Lachlan said he was “ecstatic” to find out he had won, and it will be his first trip outside Australia.
He has always wanted to become an astronaut and work for NASA, and spent about a week putting together his entry.
His father attended Space Camp when he was younger, and Lachlan’s mum, Chantelle McGurk, said Lachlan had grown up hearing about it.
“A lot of our dinner conversation I actually tune out of because they’re always talking about ‘black holes’ and things!” she laughed. “We’re so stoked [that he’s going], I started crying when I found out.”
The competition was judged by a panel, including representatives from Windsor RSL, One Giant Leap and the Hawkesbury Gazette.
Federal funding worth $80,000 has also been announced to help students from North Richmond Public, Hawkesbury High, Windsor High and Bede Polding attend the trip, at $20,000 per school.
“I welcome Commonwealth funding to make it just a little bit easier for local students to take part in Space Camp,” Federal Member for Macquarie, Susan Templeman said.
Find out more about Space Camp and follow the students’ trip at onegiantleapaustralia.com.