Space Camp ends with a blast … off

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 Throughout this past week, twenty students spanning grades 5 through 8, completed an exciting week of space related activities. The event was sponsored by the Deke Slayton Space and Bicycle Museum.

All twenty cadet-made rockets from the Deke Slayton Space Camp were successfully launched at the end of camp on Friday. It was a thrilling time that stamped the end of the week’s activities with an exclamation point. The cadet’s triumphant cheers echoed through the air as there was not a single  misfire amongst the  participants. It was a day that reeked of remarkable results, capping off a week of amazing achievements that had been slated on the agenda.

The action-packed week included activities such as programming robots, team building exercises, a visit to the La Crosse planetarium and airport and learning about science and space from a variety of experts. Like the universe they were learning about, those involved in the program were in constant motion also. Several cadets were able to hear firsthand accounts about space adventures as they met and listened to retired astronaut Mark Lee, who had flown on four space shuttle missions.

In the Sparta pool, cadets conducted zero gravity experiments; not to the level that astronauts do, but with the same concepts. The program also dove pretty deep into the scientific fields, where heavy amounts of STEM challenges were utilized to gain a deeper knowledge and greater understanding of all aspects existing within the specified scientific realm. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Capping the end of the incredibly informative week was the launching of the rockets the studious cadets had worked on during the week. It was a collaborative effort as everyone involved worked together to gain knowledge, implement what they had learned and end it all with laughter and high fives as they reached for the stars with their rockets and space ships.

The museum plans on conducting the space camp again next year.  Spots fill up fast with registration beginning in the months of April or May. Besides the camp for 5th through 8th grade, the museum also provides a junior space camp for those students entering 3rd and 4th grade. For more information, contact the dekeslaytonmuseum.org website.

Space Camp, John Gessner, Monroe County Herald, Sparta, Adventure, fun

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