Our Team
Founder and creator:
Mike “Spaceman” Stanton
Mission LEO was founded by Mike Stanton, who designed and ran versions of this program in schools across the East Coast beginning in 1992. He spent 14.5 years running the program at Belvedere Elementary School in Northern Virginia.
Mike’s simulator, software, and program are in use at Arlington Science Focus School in Arlington, Virginia, enhancing their STEM curriculum with a unique focus on spaceflight, in the Michael S. Stanton Student Space Center.
Mike’s military and engineering background and his lifelong love of space exploration and science is what made him passionate about encouraging the next generation of STEM professionals. He inspired countless kids and teachers over several decades, and the world is a better place for his work.
Mike passed away in January 2020, but his dedication to volunteering and giving back to the community lives on in the people who partnered with him and supported his work. Donations can be made in his memory to the Maryland International Day School, which will be running a summer STEM program in his honor beginning in 2020.
Founder: Katie Stanton
Mike’s daughter Katie Stanton is continuing her father’s work and honoring his memory by expanding Mission LEO to connect more military servicemembers and veterans to volunteering opportunities with students, to keep inspiring the next generation.
When Katie was in elementary school, her father was known around the hallways as the “Spaceman,” running an after-school program with a “real space shuttle” in one of the classrooms. Some of her strongest memories from that time in her life consist of that program: zipping up the space shuttle crew suit, marching down the school hallway with three crew mates on her way to launch a space shuttle, and serving as a pilot while a group of 16 peers manned Mission Control.
Her father is her hero, and she is forever inspired by his lifelong dedication to service and volunteering.
In addition to working to make Mission LEO into a national program, Katie is the founder of The Good Lemon, a marketing and communications firm in Washington, D.C.
Contact: katie@thegoodlemon.com