SpaceTrek

SpaceTrek is a residential summer program in space systems engineering for young women entering 9th—12th grade or entering college as a freshman.

Two programs are held each summer, one at Morehead State University and another in West Virginia. SpaceTrek was created in 2012 as a pilot program thanks to a partnership between AAUW Kentucky and Morehead State University. This one week educational experience is designed to expose incoming sophomore, junior and senior high school girls to space science and engineering concepts in fun and exciting ways.

05/28/2026

🗒️✨Meet Elisabeth Buffy Williams, the Technical Communications instructor of !🗒️✨

Buffy is a technical writer at the Space Dynamics Laboratory. She originally studied piano performance at Eastern New Mexico University; Buffy discovered her real superpower: helping engineers and scientists explain their wildest ideas to the world in ways that anyone can understand. She wants SpaceTrek participants to know that their career path doesn’t have to be a straight line; do what you love!

This is Buffy’s second year at SpaceTrek, a program she fell in love with because it captures the "what if" energy she had as a teenager. If SpaceTrek had existed back then, she’s convinced she would have orbited the moon as part of the Artemis crew.

When she isn’t decoding space tech, Buffy is likely diving into a new hobby—and probably spending way too much money on supplies. Her current obsession is stained glass, and after plenty of practice, and she says she has finally (sort of) mastered the art of wielding a soldering iron without burning the house down!

Buffy wants to show participants that a career in STEM is more than just equations. It’s about creativity, persistence, and the courage to try something new, even if it means picking up a soldering iron for the first time.

05/26/2026

We are only 12 Days Away from the start of

Continuing our series of What to Expect at SpaceTrek, 2018 Alumna Brenna Bommer joins us to tell you all about the College and Career Networking Dinner at SpaceTrek!

This dinner is an opportunity for participants to meet with aerospace industry professionals and college recruiters, giving you the chance to connect and build relationships in the Aerospace and Space Systems industries even before you start college!

This is just one way that helps build the aerospace workforce pipeline and empowers young women to pursue the college and career paths of their dreams!

05/20/2026

✨✨SpaceTrek Shoutout!!! Today we're highlighting, Kiara Little, a brilliant young woman who has contributed so much to the SpaceTrek Program!✨✨

An alumna of the The Craft Academy at Morehead State University's class of 2025, Kiara has been a lab assistant for SpaceTrek the past two years and is returning as a lab assistant for the 2026 program this summer.

Under the mentorship of Space Systems Engineers Michael Combs and Jose Garcia, Kiara has made meaningful curriculum contributions by producing 3D models of electronic projects that participants at SpaceTrek and SpacePrep create during their time in the programs! These animations are leveraged as educational tools in the SpaceTrek and SpacePrep programs and are incredible aids to the mission of giving students knowledge, skills, and abilities in aerospace and electronics fields!

Kiara is a space systems engineering major and mathematics minor in Morehead State University's Honors College. In addition, Kiara works as a Product Technical Specialist intern for Twiggs Space lab As a Product Technical Specialist, she has been focusing on creating a digital lecture series and a learning platform for the S-Cubed Program in coordination with the Aldrin Family Foundation for teachers in NASA’s Liftoff Program. The S-Cubed program will teach high school students how to test, integrate, and code a variety of small satellite payloads over the period of two years, including the FlatSat, CricketSat, CanSat, JiggyBot, I Can Solder Badge, and QB2 PocketQube. The CricketSat, JiggyBot, and I Can Solder Badge are the primary electronics projects in the SpaceTrek and SpacePrep programs.

05/15/2026

⚡✨Meet Jennifer Nguyen, the Electrical Engineering Instructor at !✨⚡

Jennifer is a 2024 alumna of The Craft Academy at Morehead State and a returning SpaceTrek staff member. Originally from Grayson, KY and a graduate from East Carter High School in 2024. Now, she is now a rising junior in Electrical Engineering at Boston University.

Jennifer has extensive experience with academic summer programs, including the MSU Upward Bound Summer Academy, National Student Leadership Conference Engineering-Intensive Camp, and the Hal Rogers Scholar Engineering Program. She also previously served two consecutive terms on executive committee of the Kentucky Technology Student Association, Kentucky’s largest Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) promoting student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

05/12/2026

Guest Speaker Highlight!
Meet Nikki Bryant - Former # 1 Ranked Super Middleweight World Champion Boxer, motivational speaker, and Director of Compliance at Southern New Hampshire University. Nikki will be joining the SpaceTrek program at Morehead State University this summer to speak to participants in the self empowerment series that is a part of the SpaceTrek program!

“Fighting for Success: Be EXTRAordinary!” is Nikki’s own personal story of overcoming unthinkable adversity to becoming successful and prosperous. Nikki’s story is one that captures the entire audience! She is living proof that the difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do. Nikki wants to show participants that they can be successful no matter what they’ve been or might go through in life.

Through riveting speakers like Nikki, SpaceTrek helps support the well-being and growth of our young women by connecting STEM education with real-world leadership, innovation, and powerful, empowering role models who are making an impact in space science, technology, and in their communities.

Learn more about how SpaceTrek promotes the health and development of young women through more than just STEM knowledge!

05/07/2026

✨Alumna Highlight!! Meet Sophia Blose, a brilliant alumna of SpaceTrek 2025!✨

🚀Since her SpaceTrek experience, Sophia has had her sights set on pursuing a career in the aerospace industry. She has been accepted into the incoming class at the The Craft Academy at Morehead State University, and plans to pursue astronautical engineering in college after she graduates high school. Specifically, she says she is interested in specializing in propulsion systems.

🌌 Sophia says that SpaceTrek helped her grow in her confidence and find community! The support and instruction from Chloe Hart, in particular, she says, helped her realize that her dreams are possible!

💫 Keep pursuing your deams, Sophia! With confidence in yourself and community around you, there is nothing that you can't do!

05/06/2026

📡✨Meet Chloe Hart, the Telecommunications Instructor at SpaceTrek!✨📡

Chloe is the Lead Ground Station Engineer and Operator for Morehead State University's 21-meter high-gain dish. She coordinates MSU’s work in tracking and detecting satellites both as a part of NASA’s Deep Space Network and as a part of private space industry missions. Chloe has played a key role in Morehead's tracking of NASA's Artemis II, LEMS (Lunar Environment Monitoring Station), CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment), and Lunar IceCube missions.

In addition, Chloe trains new undergraduate and graduate students at MSU to properly operate and maintain the ground station equipment and software.

Chloe attended SpaceTrek in 2015, where she discovered her love for the Aerospace Field, and remains involved with the program as the Telecommunications Instructor at the SpaceTrek summer program, and the Co-Instructor of the SpacePrep programs during the academic year.

05/03/2026

KY is only 5 weeks away!

To give you a glimpse of what the program has in store, SpaceTrek Lab Assistant and Alumna of the 2024 program, Holly Macario-Avila shares about her experience of SpaceTrek's CricketSat launch day!

This is the culmination of the first half of the program: participants launch the CricketSats they have built and calibrated, and work in teams to collect and record the temperature data transmitted back to the ground station!

The work that participants do on this day is analogous to the work that MSU does with its 21-meter high-gain antenna as a part of NASA's Deep Space Network, which Space Systems Engineering students can participate in while attending MSU. As well as the work that MSU does in building Small Satellites in collaboration with multiple private and public space programs.

Address

150 University Boulevard
Morehead, KY
40351

Telephone

+16067832300

Website

https://www.moreheadstate.edu/academics/colleges/science/engineering-sciences/space-science-center/space-trek/

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