15-Year-Old Has Her Sights Set High

Katie Griffin isn’t a rocket scientist - yet.

This summer she’ll get a start, after winning a national competition put on by NASA and the National Science Teachers Association. Katie, a Shawnee Mission West High School freshman who wants to be an astrobiologist or astrophysicist, will spend a week at the NASA research center of her choice.

“I was not expecting this at all,” she said Thursday. “It makes me feel that I have more of a chance to get where I want to” in life.

Katie, 15, beat out more than 1,350 other high school students with a proposal about an experiment that could be performed on Mars. She presented it to three NASA judges earlier this week in Washington.

Her plan: Put mirrors above Mars to melt the polar icecaps in an attempt to make the planet a permanent settlement for humans. Her experiment stemmed from her interest in terraforming - altering a planet so humans can live there.

Katie, who was the youngest of eight regional finalists, is leaning toward going to Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Fla. She hopes to get a VIP tour of the space shuttle tower and watch a shuttle launch. She also plans to discuss her career goals.

Dan Woods, one of three NASA judges, said Katie won because of her proposal’s creativity, her strong command of her subject and her ability to answer judges’ questions quickly and thoroughly.