1-21-2021
The WEX Foundation, an educational nonprofit based at Port San Antonio in Texas, is advancing space careers by giving underserved middle and high school students hands-on experience in lunar exploration technologies. Founded by renowned space architect Sam Ximenes, the organization won a major NASA grant to implement its Lunar Caves Analog Test Sites (LCATS) program, where students build technology useful for human colonization on the moon. Activities include exploring simulated lunar caves, launching high-altitude balloons, programming robots and autonomous vehicles, and designing objects with 3D printers. The program focuses on developing habitats inside lunar lava tubes, which scientists believe could provide natural radiation shielding for future human settlers.
The article, written by Brett (creator of “How To Be a Rocket Scientist”), highlights WEX Foundation’s partnerships with the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technology (SAMSAT), the Scobee Challenger Center, Southwest Research Institute, and UTSA. It also profiles Sam Ximenes, whose architecture firm XArc has worked on projects such as Spaceport America, the Houston Spaceport, and a feasibility study with SpaceX on point-to-point space transportation. The author notes that WEX Foundation will benefit from sales of his children’s book “Goodnight Moon Base,” and encourages San Antonio families to get involved. The ultimate goal, he writes, is to “create a robust space technology workforce that will enable people to live on other planets.”