Lake Stevens teen chosen to help reach for the stars
Published 1:30 am Saturday, October 27, 2018
LAKE STEVENS — Kashan Hussain missed watching his high school’s homecoming football game Oct. 19.
He was in Dallas shaking hands with men who have walked on the moon.
He returned to Lake Stevens in time for the dance the next night.
“I only spent about 30 hours in Texas, and all of these doors just flew open,” said Hussain, 16.
He joined 24 other students from around the country who were selected as ambassadors for Back to Space. The program is focused on honoring the history of spaceflight and the Apollo missions, along with sparking interest in the next generation to master the skills they’ll need to explore the universe.
Back to Space was co-founded by Danielle Dallas Roosa. Her grandfather, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, flew to the moon in 1971. Now, she wants the achievements of science, technology, engineering and math heroes to become part of popular culture.
“How many students can name numerous reality show ‘stars’?” she said in a written statement. “But how few can name anyone who’s actually been among the stars? It’s unsettling.”
Back to Space is relying on two sets of experts to spread its message. The first group consists of four astronauts who have taken part in historic missions: Buzz Aldrin, Walter Cunningham, Charlie Duke and Alfred Merrill Worden. The other group is the program’s target audience: high school students.
Teens competed for spots in the ambassador program. They submitted essays or videos on specific topics, such as why they want to go to space.
Hussain heard about it from teacher Karen Coulombe. He saw her email three days before the deadline.
He made his 3½-minute video in two days.
“Space is the only place that gives me excitement and fear at the same time,” he said in the video.
He talked about how people once explored Earth, but now have settled much of it. To see the next unexplored frontier, you have to look up.
“Space has always been a big part of me,” he said in an interview at Lake Stevens High School. “When I was a kid, I would watch ‘Star Wars,’ and that got me into space.”
Learning about the Mars rovers inspired him to study robotics. He joined a club that meets twice a week at Cavelero Mid High. Hussain also is junior class president at the high school and plays soccer.
His dream is to engineer robots for space travel.
He hasn’t ruled out being an astronaut. But if he can’t go into space, he’ll build robots that can.
His first choice of college is the University of Washington, but he’s planning to apply to other schools, including MIT.
In the meantime, he could be on television for Back to Space. The plan is to start a show that blends documentary and reality TV. The ultimate goal and the project’s namesake, according to the website, is to send an Apollo astronaut back to space and stream video of the trip into classrooms.
Hussain is part of the first group of student ambassadors. A week ago Thursday, he left straight from Running Start classes at Everett Community College to catch a 5 p.m. flight to Texas.
There, he met astronauts Cunningham, Duke and Worden.
The group that Friday visited Vines High School for a Q-and-A. They also went to the University of Texas at Dallas and heard from professors. One showed them how audio from the Apollo missions was converted, and how vocal cues could indicate astronauts’ positive or negative emotions. The results tracked with major events: positive when they landed on the moon, negative when there was a malfunction.
Friday evening included a gala. The students met potential investors, Hussain said.
At first, that was nerve-wracking, he said. He almost spilled salad dressing on a billionaire.
Then they all got to talking.
“They wanted to know about me and what I want to do,” he said. “That was really cool. To have these important people there, and they’re asking about me.”
He heard rags-to-riches stories, and reasons to fight for his dreams.
The student ambassadors have a system set up online so they can brainstorm together on what’s next. They want to visit each others’ schools and work on getting endorsements for Back to Space from popular science-themed YouTube channels.
While in Texas, the group talked until 2 a.m. Hussain was up again three hours later. He ate breakfast and headed for the airport.
He was back in Lake Stevens around 5 p.m. that Saturday.
He had just enough time to get ready for the dance.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
