REACHING for the stars has long been Atasha Maggay’s dream, and her fascination with technology — sparked in junior high and fueled by her studies in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand of UST Senior High School — paved the way for her to set foot inside the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
In May 2025, Maggay became one of 15 Filipino students chosen for a 12-day intensive program on space science and technology at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Houston, Texas.
Maggay’s curiosity about what lay beyond Earth began in Grade 7, during her first coding class. By Grade 12 at UST, that spark had grown, driving her to take that curiosity further than she ever imagined.
“I saw how powerful technology is, not just for exploring space but also for solving real-world problems here on Earth, and with that, I realized that with science and technology, we can really make a real difference,” she told the Varsitarian.
In the lead-up to the program, Maggay balanced online seminars and technical briefings from the Data Science and Technology Corp. with her final exams at UST SHS, all while training as a basketball player for the Thomasian Goodwill Games.
“Before we flew out of the country, I did a lot of juggling and balancing. What I had in mind then was to be present in the now and to finish and complete the tasks needed to be accomplished,” she said.
On her first day at NASA, Maggay walked the halls wide-eyed, taking in the sight of spacecraft and picking research topics she once dreamed of.
Maggay learned about aeronautics, engineering, robotics, space biology, and astronautics.
“We also designed and programmed a robot to perform tasks, explored spacecraft design, and learned how the human body adapts in space through microgravity training. In flight simulation, we learned how to control aircraft and make quick decisions,” she said.
By Day 4, she and her team were already launching and analyzing their handmade rockets.
Maggay took on some engineering challenges, such as building and programming autonomous robots to navigate Martian-like terrains and crafting heat shields to withstand high-temperature simulations.
The participants experienced microgravity training through simulated controlled underwater missions, and dissected a shark to learn how living systems adapt to extreme conditions.
On the final day, Maggay boarded a simulated mission to the moon and Mars, taking on different critical astronaut roles and working with her team to troubleshoot problems in real time.
After nearly two weeks of training, Maggay stood out as one of the top participants and took home a silver medal at NASA Space Center University, first place in the Martian Habitat Challenge and Robotics and Cryogenic Challenge, second place in the Lunar Habitat Challenge at the University of Houston and the Rocketry and Endothermic Challenge, and third place in the Coding Challenge.
“I feel proud to represent our country on the global stage, but more than that, I feel honored. This experience reminded me that nothing worth having comes easy, and that with perseverance, anything is possible,” she said.
Now a freshman studying legal management at the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Maggay hopes her journey will inspire other STEM students to explore space science.
“We have so many passionate and talented students. All we need is more support, resources, and opportunities for us to grow even more,” she said.
“I think we can strengthen this by investing more in STEM education and creating more programs in partnership with international space organizations.”
The NASA Houston Association for Space and Science Education (HASSE) Space School Program ran from May 17 to 28.
