Kevin Sebastian Vite, the Boy from Cuautitlán Izcalli Accepted by NASA

Kevin Sebastián Vite Sánchez is a nine-year-old boy from the State of Mexico who, like any other child, enjoys playing tag with his friends, video games, and dreams of becoming an astronaut. He now has the opportunity to make that dream a reality as he has been selected to represent Mexico in the International Air Space Program Junior (IASP) 2024, which will be held from July 28 to August 2 at NASA’s facilities in Houston, Texas.

However, Kevin does not have the financial resources to pay for the trip and stay for himself and his guardian. The program’s registration alone costs $3,950. To raise the necessary funds, he is raffling off two video game consoles and beauty products sold by his grandmother. Additionally, this Saturday, he will be in the Zócalo Capitalino to conduct a collection, needing at least 67,000 Mexican pesos to cover expenses, according to his mother, Jessica Sánchez Colín.

Living in Cuautitlán Izcalli, Kevin's interest in space began at the age of four when his school for children with high intellectual potential introduced him to the subject. A few months ago, he started researching online and discovered Aexa Aerospace, where he applied for the International Air Space Program (IASP) Junior. In this program, he will undergo basic astronaut training for five days.

Kevin’s mother mentioned that this is the first time the space program has opened an edition for young children, as it is typically held for teenagers aged 15 and above. Kevin has an IQ of 138, according to the Center for Attention to Talent, where he has studied alongside his regular school, his mother confirmed. Currently, he is one of the 10 children worldwide selected to participate in this year's program.

What is the International Air and Space Program Junior?

The International Air and Space Program (IASP) is an educational program that nurtures tomorrow’s leaders in STEM areas. This program is conducted at NASA’s facilities. Aexa provides a real-world experience, bringing students closer to the STEM world through space engineering, aeronautics, and science.

This program gives children the opportunity to live a week like NASA astronauts with activities designed for them. Through mission conflicts, they will have to develop solutions. Participants will have access to real documents used in previous NASA missions, such as the Moon mission, the Mars robotic mission, or the Orion mission.
Activities include:

• Working in the Mars mission operations center
• Experiencing the engineering and robotics lab
• Learning about botany in NASA’s nursery
• Training in the spacewalk simulator
• Visiting the mission launch control center
• Training in Mars exploration simulators
• Touring the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex