A 14-year-old girl is hoping to go further than any woman, or human, has ever been.
Eleanor Sigres, from Virginia, is a budding rocket scientist who has already won a national prize thanks to her impressive science knowledge, which she plans to nurture until she one day finds a way to Mars.
The talented teen won $25,000 last October when she took the top prize for middle schoolers at the prestigious Broadcom science and engineering competition over a pool of 6,000 nominees, and now she’s is busy looking ahead to the future – and up to the big, wide universe around her.
Young and brilliant: Eleanor Sigres, 14, is already an award-winning budding rocket scientist, and she plans on one day going to Mars
Hard worker: The teenager opened up about her project, Rockets, Nozzles and Thrusts, Oh My!, which aimed to improve the design of the nozzles of cold gas rockets
Eleanor talked about her accomplishments and goals on Thursday as part of the TODAY show’s Girls Changing the World series.
Winning: Eleanor earned $25,000 after winning the top prize for middle schoolers at the prestigious Broadcom competition
Her winning project, Rockets, Nozzles and Thrusts, Oh My!, looked into how to improve the nozzles of cold gas rockets, which are used to stabilize spacecrafts when they land and to help move astronauts around space when they leave their aircraft.
‘I simply just changed the shape of that nozzle to see if I could produce the most thrust for the highest push, for the lightest and smallest nozzle,’ she said, trying to explain the science behind her project in a way non-scientists could understand.
Her project consisted of 3D printed small plastic models of rocket nozzles, some wide angles and others with narrow angles, and an apparatus to push air through each nozzle in order to find the best design, according to Science for Society and the Public. She even created a system to detect and record data on force, pressure and temperature of the gas that came out of the nozzles.
As part of the competition, Eleanor also competed in a series of challenges to prove her science, engineering, technology and math knowledge.
A girl of many talents: The 14-year-old is also a member of an award-winning robotics team and an accomplished violinist
She does it all! Not only is the high school freshman a budding scientist, she also makes her own clothes, like a space-themed dress (pictured)
The high school freshman said she got the idea for her research project when she saw a SpaceX rocket’s failed landing, but Eleanor has known what she wanted to dedicate her life to when her parents took her to Florida to witness NASA’s historic last space shuttle launch in 2011.
‘I kind of was like, this is what I wanna do’ she told TODAY host Savannah Guthrie. ‘I want to go to space, I want to go to Mars.’
The path Eleanor plans on taking is not one many women have experienced: only 11.3 per cent of aerospace engineers are women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but she’s determined to break that barrier.
‘It hasn’t been done yet,; she said when asked why she wants to go to Mars, even if it’s a one-way ticket. ‘It’s our sibling planet and the fact that we could maybe find something there, even if it’s just bacteria- that’s still life.
Determined: Eleanor’s parents said all they have to do to support their daughter’s passion is providing the environment and she motivates herself
Her parents, who have four other children, said Eleanor is determinedly self-motivated, and all they have to do is provide her with opportunities to engage in her passion.
‘If you just give them the environment, they self-motivate,’ said her mom.
And Eleanor doesn’t just have the discipline to train herself in rocket science, the bright girl is also an accomplished violinist, is learning Russian, and is a member of an award-winning robotics team.
Not only that, she makes clothes for herself, like the space-themed dress she wore for her TODAY show interview, using a sewing machine or a traditional loom.
When asked what girl power means to her, Eleanor said it means they can do anything.
‘We can really dive into it and be the brains behind just about anything,’ she concluded.