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Emilia Dobek's interest in space and the universe started in third grade when she and her father watched a blood moon-a total lunar eclipse(月食)—outside their Skokie house, "It was just really cool how the universe can change and how something like that happens," Dobek said.
Now a seventh grader at East Prairie Elementary School, Dobek recently won the national Generation Beyond challenge by designing a space station for traveling to Mars.
Dobek competed by handing in a two-minute video where she presented her design.
"My design will not only ensure the safety of the astronauts but also make sure their comfort is out of this world," she says in her video.
Dobek's design calls for building the Mars Storage Station to store plentiful supplies. In the video, Dobek explains how her spacecraft—the Adventurer—will land in a space station. Dobek's design includes physical activity for the astronauts. Astronauts can choose their exercise machine and virtual (虚拟的) reality environment. So astronauts will be able to watch downloaded shows and even see places on Earth such as their home.
Dobek said she began her project by performing her research and then she constructed the design over three weeks to a month, working on it whenever she could including on weekends.
When Andrea Smeeton, her teacher, saw the video and her design before they were sent, she said she had a feeling she could win. "I don't know why but maybe it was the excitement and the detail in the project," Smeeton said. "I have taught for a long time and many of my students are gifted but this project was just very creative and it gave hope to a space program."
Dobek and her parents traveled to Washington D.C. in April where they learned Dobek had won. When she texted her teacher the happy result, Smeeton admitted that she cried.
"I want to tell other kids to follow their dreams." Dobek said. "Whatever they want to do, they should kind of just push for it. They should always try their best."