Since 2006, the Dream Flight USA Foundation has been on a mission….To motivate students in the upper elementary and middle schools to learn. The STEM Shuttle, a mobile classroom, has been traveling throughout Wisconsin and neighboring states since 2006, bringing a unique hands-on earning opportunity to the students in grades 4 – 8.

People often ask if the STEM Shuttle is the only one of its kind. The answer is yes. The shuttle program is the work of the Foundation’s Chairwoman of the Board, Sharon Ryan. Using space travel to excite students about learning, and using STEM related hands-on activities to engage them while on board the shuttle.

The STEM Shuttle program began in June, 2006 with a visit to the Deke Slayton AirFest in La Crosse, WI.  Back then, the vehicle was simply a “shuttle” named the Spirit of Education.  On its sides were a likeness of a United States shuttle.
 
The creator of the Dream Flight USA Foundation, Sharon Ryan, realized back in 2006 that the day would come when the NASA Shuttle Program would end.  And as promised, the excitement of the shuttle lift offs from Florida ended when the construction of the International Space Station was completed in 2011.
 
The following year,it was decided to make a dramatic change to the Dream Flight USA vehicle.  Mrs Ryan, a 5th grade teacher and Chairwoman of the board, was committed to maintaining its shuttle program.  However, unlike the new and smaller manned space vehicles being planned by private contractors and NASA, the Dream Flight USA shuttle was going to maintain the capacity for a large crew.  Two pilots, three teachers, and 20 students would make up the crew of the new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) Shuttle.

Vehicle Facts
> Length: 45 feet
> Weight: 44,000 pounds
> Height: 13 feet 1.5 inches
> Width: 8 feet 6 inches
> Range: 1400 miles
> Climate controlled
> On board heating system
> On board air conditioning
> Hangar: Progressive Travel, Mosinee, WI