Aaron Levine of Wellington recently attended Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, home of Space Camp, Space Camp Robotics, Aviation Challenge, U.S. Cyber Camp and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.
The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving.
This program is specifically designed for trainees who have a passion for space exploration. Levine spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated space mission to the International Space Station, the Moon or Mars. The crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity, or spacewalk. Levine and his crew returned to earth in time to graduate with honors.
Space Camp operates year-round in Huntsville, Ala., and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the International Space Station and train in simulators like those used by NASA.
More than 850,000 trainees have graduated from a Space Camp program since its inception in 1982, including European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Dr. Kate Rubins, Dr. Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Christina Koch, who is serving onboard the International Space Station. Interested in training like an astronaut? Visit www.spacecamp.com or call (800) 637-7223.
