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IN A OLD WIDE COMPETITION. THEO: AS NASA COMMEMORATES ANNIVERSARY PLANS ARE IN PLACE TO GO BACK TO THE MOON BY 2024 AND PUT THE FIRST PERSON ON MARS BY 2040. THOSE MISSIONS ARE INSPIRING YOUNG MINDS LIKE PAXTON SUMMERS, A THIRD GRADER AT FRIENDS SCHOOL WHO ENTERED THE MISSION DESIGN PAT’S CHALLENGE AND ONE. 10 DOZEN KIDS ENTERED AND ONLY FIVE WERE SELECTED AS WINNERS. >> THAT WAS THE BIGGEST EXCITEMENT FOR ME BECAUSE I HAD NEVER ACTUALLY ONE HUGE CONTEXT LIKE THIS. THEO: THE CHALLENGE WAS TO USE CODING TO REDUCE A PATCH. >> THE COLLEGE I WANT TO GO TO HIS M.I.T. BECAUSE THAT IS A REALLY GOOD COLLEGE FOR BUILDING STUFF. I WANT TO INVENT LIKE ROBOTS AND I WOULD CODE THEM BECAUSE I LIKE BUILDING AND CODING. THEO: HE HAS A LOT OF QUESTIONS HE WANTS TO ASK. >> WHAT IS THE NEXT TIME THEY WILL TRY IT -- PLANET THEY LAND ON WHEN THEY COMPLETE MARS? THEO: HIS TEACHER IS PROUD. >> THE INNOVATIVE, CREATIVE SPIRIT BEHIND NASA AND HOW THAT CAN ALLOW OUR STUDENTS TO RETHINK WHAT IS POSSIBLE. I THINK THAT WOULD BE ONE OF THE THINGS IF THEY WALKED AWAY, THAT WOULD

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Missions to space are becoming more ambitious. As NASA commemorates the 50th anniversary of the original Apollo X mission, plans are in place to go back to the moon by 2024 and put the first person on Mars by 2040.Those missions are inspiring young minds like Paxton Summers, a third grader at Friends School of Baltimore. He entered NASA's and Tynker's "Mission Design Patch Challenge" and won. Of the 10,000 kids from all over the globe who entered, only five were selected as winners."That was a big excitement for me because I had never actually won, like, a huge contest like this," Paxton said.The challenge was to use coding to create an animated patch. Paxton loves coding and wants to be an engineer when he grows up."Well, the college I want to go to is MIT because that's a really good college for building stuff, and I want to invent robots and then I would code them because I like building and coding," Paxton said.The prize for winning is a teleconference for his entire class with a NASA expert, and Paxton has a lot of questions he wants to ask."What is the next planet they are going to try and land on after they complete Mars?" Paxton wants to know.Paxton's teacher, Andy Haynes, said he's proud of his student for taking on the project and he's glad the win benefits the entire class. "The innovative, creative spirit that is behind NASA, and how that can kind of allow our students to rethink what's possible, I think that would be one of the things if they walked away (with) that would be a powerful moment for them," Paxton said.