Hands-on STEM mission-training camp for students aged 11 to 14, where they work as astronauts, Mission Control specialists and researchers inspired by space exploration.
Space Center Houston is running Space Center U: Destination the Moon, a STEM camp for kids ages 11 to 14, from Monday, November 23, to Wednesday, November 25. It's part of the larger Space Center U program, which runs all year round for future explorers aged 11 to 18. The whole thing is built around project-based teamwork and hands-on challenges inspired by space exploration, and it's hosted at NASA's official visitor center.
Because it's right here at Space Center Houston, the program includes behind-the-scenes access to NASA Johnson Space Center and Rocket Park. On the five-day versions of the program, students rotate through the roles of astronaut, Mission Control specialist, and backroom scientific researcher, all guided by NASA's "Plan, Train, Fly" motto. Some of those sessions even feature a live presentation with a NASA astronaut. Lunch is served daily by Wolfgang Puck Catering, and the experience wraps up with a graduation ceremony and a certificate in the Mission Briefing auditorium.
There's also a tour of Independence Plaza, home to the shuttle replica Independence perched atop the historic Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. It's the only shuttle in the world mounted on an SCA and the only one the public can actually enter. For students who might need a hand with the cost, the Gene Kranz Scholarship awards registration to a week-long engineering design program that honors the "Tough and Competent" dictum established by Kranz after the Apollo 1 tragedy.
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This particular session runs from 8 AM to 4 PM each day, and registration is $719.95 per student, dropping to $619.95 per student for groups of more than 20.
