Two sets of students and teachers from Suffolk elementary schools have touched down from a NASA event in Houston with a new perspective on the possibility of careers in space.

Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School’s Alyssa Burandt, Taylor Starkey and teacher Elizabeth Petry, and Nansemond Parkway Elementary School’s Sydney Ricks, Angela Miller and teacher Shannon Boldizar, arrived home from the 2012 NASA Student Symposium on Saturday.

The Mack Benn students won the chance to attend the symposium by creating a science project showing how water from the moon could be used to grow food in space using hydroponics, and their Nansemond Parkway colleagues by showing that yeast can flourish in the Martian environment.

The students presented their projects to NASA scientists, who fired back questions that had the girls thinking on their feet, according to Petry.

“They did very well,” she said.

The students met about six astronauts, satisfying their curiosity about life outside the earthly realm by asking questions; saw a special cargo lunar lander and met the person who designed its propulsion system; and visited the natural buoyancy lab where astronauts train for spending extended periods far from gravity.

“They got to go to the mission control center for the International Space Station, and the historical Apollo mission control,” Petry said.

“They got to look at many things the average person doesn’t get to see. They had all kinds of activities set up … including a Velcro activity where you bounce and make yourself stick to the wall.”

The students questioned astronauts about careers in space during a panel session with six NASA employees from different areas.

“I think they came away with the idea that if you really want to do something badly enough, you can do it,” Petry said.

“A lot of people we talked to gave them the desire to work for NASA and gave them ideas about what classes to take.”

“If you’re interested in it, you can make it happen.”

The two student teams were selected to attend the symposium at Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas, after earlier presenting their projects to NASA scientists during videoconferences, responding to questions off-the-cuff.

The symposium ran from May 2-5.