Inspired by space as a kid, Russ Glenn transports his out of this world classroom to the Bob Bullock Museum, sharing lessons about comets, asteroids and galaxies beyond.

Asteroids and planets aren't the only objects colliding in this world. Passion and purpose collided recently for St. Stephen’s Middle School Science Instructor Russ Glenn. On weekdays, he teaches Middle School Science and Expeditions; on weekends, he volunteers as a NASA Solar System Ambassador for the 25-year-old program.

“It's a volunteer network and we do have to go through a selection process,” said Glenn. “We talk to people about current and future NASA missions, and then we try to get kids and adults enthusiastic about space and space science.”

Glenn shared his celestial enthusiasm, his science knowledge and his space DIY craftsmanship recently with more than 2,000 visitors at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum for its Free First Sunday event. Glenn was even featured on CBS Austin previewing the event.

“We talked about asteroids and the Lucy mission, which is the current NASA mission out to Jupiter to look at a specific group of asteroids that are called the Trojans,” said Glenn. “The Lucy mission is going out there to investigate those asteroids to hopefully find out more about the origins of our solar system. They call the mission Lucy, named after the Lucy fossil that was found, which helped us to understand human evolution. I also had the kids and quite a few adults make impact craters using marbles crashing into a simulated lunar surface.”

Glenn’s ambassadorship with NASA brings his journey full circle, reconnecting him with the curiosity he had as a middle schooler and his lifelong fascination with space.

“My love for space began in 6th grade, when Halley's Comet was coming through, making a pass by Earth,” said Glenn. “That was 1986 and I had a really great 6th grade science teacher who helped me get the most out of that particular event, so that was really where it all started.”

Glenn’s time as a teacher is not limited to just St. Stephen’s classrooms. He says it’s imperative that more people learn as much as they can about space and space exploration.

“I think the scientific mindset is really important, and an understanding of science is crucial for our future,” said Glenn. “I feel like NASA's mission is particularly important — that we get ourselves looking at and learning about space and at the same time our own planet through their missions. I also think it's such an aspirational science to look out at the stars, where we try to answer the big questions, like “are we alone?” Hopefully, it's something that gets kids and adults thinking about space, and also thinking about how amazing our own planet is.”

Learn more about the NASA Ambassador Program. 

Learn more about Glenn’s ambassadorship.