One of space shuttle astronaut Charles Lacy Veach’s lifelong goals was to inspire young people to discover more about their world and learn to make it better.

Sixteen years after his death from cancer, that legacy continues.

About 400 students and 200 parents and teachers took part Saturday at the 10th annual Astronaut Lacy Veach Day of Discovery at Punahou School, Veach’s alma mater.

The day’s offerings included hands-on, how-to workshops on building and launching soda bottle rockets and constructing battle-worthy mechanized toothbrush creatures.

"Our goal is to get young people to be as excited about science and technology as much as sports and entertainment," said Art Kimura of the Hawaii Space Grant Consortium, one of the sponsors of the free event.

This year’s keynote address/pep talk was given by Hokule’a master navigator Nainoa Thompson, who described Veach as "a teacher, a mentor and a best friend."

Thompson said it was Veach and his own father, the late Myron "Pinky" Thompson, who in November 1992 first instilled in him the idea of taking the Hokule’a around the world to spread the message of Hawaii, peace and aloha.

Thompson said his initial reaction to the idea was "No can, I mean, are you nuts?" He added, "It was the right vision, but we weren’t ready."

A three-year, around-the-world voyage by the Hokule’a is scheduled to launch in June 2013.

At the Mamiya Science Center, tomorrow’s discoverers were learning how to put vibrating cellphone motors, AAA batteries and toothbrush heads together to form "Bristlebots."Under the guidance of science teacher Bryan Silver and his Kalani High School robotics team, some students chose to design lightweight, speedy machines to compete in a race. Others built brawny bots aimed at pushing other bots out of a sumo ring.

Tate Yamashita, a fourth-grader at Calvary Chapel Christian School, was among those building his Bristlebot for speed.

"He loves to build things," said father Scot Yamashita. "This is great because it gives him a chance see other kids who are not that much older than him doing it, too," he said, noting that Silver’s students were leading the workshop.

At Punahou’s Middle Field, students took turns firing rockets made of plastic soda bottles. Victoria Ono, a fourth-grader at Palisades Elementary, and her mother, Jennifer, carefully strapped tape around the two sides of their rocket.

"I like being able to go outdoors and do cool experiments," said Victoria, an aspiring Marine and librarian.

Pearl Ridge Elementary fifth-grader Dylan Umetsu, and his mother, Patty Umetsu, were impressed with the array of displays and workshops available during their first time at Lacy Veach Day.

"The kids get excited because they’re learning not just about technology, but about creativity," Patty Umetsu said.