ASTRO CAMP® @ INFINITY
The NASA Stennis Space Center Office of STEM Engagement will be announcing the Stennis ASTRO CAMP® @ INFINITY, a series of week-long summer camps held in June and July (excluding the week of July 4th).
Camps are held at INFINITY Science Center, located at the intersection of I-10 Exit 2 and Highway 607. The program will launch in June. The program is developed with age-appropriate STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) activities and NASA content for student groups in grades 2-3, 4-6 and 7-10.
ASTRO CAMP® is part of the Stennis Office of STEM Engagement, which seeks to provide opportunities for learners to engage in STEM education activities that capitalize on NASA’s unique assets and content to inspire future astronauts and engineers to learn about space. All ASTRO CAMP® instructors are certified educators with STEM experience to ensure robust instruction for campers, and ASTRO CAMP® counselors are college-enrolled NASA interns. Additional certified educators will be participating in the 2019 ASTRO CAMP® educational professional development program throughout the summer, connecting classrooms to NASA’s educational resources supporting both Next Generation Science Standards, and College and Career Readiness Standards, all applied utilizing NASA ASTRO CAMP® methodologies.
ASTRO CAMP® presents math and science principles through fun, hands-on activities that teach teams of campers to work together to complete NASA science-directed missions. ASTRO CAMP®sessions provide campers the NASA experience of aeronautics from first flight to space flight; space technology engineering design with robotics applications; and Solar System-and-Beyond activities featuring planets, moons, stars and galaxies, with an encompassing survey of the Earth. Human exploration in space activities include real-world applications for living and working in low-earth orbits and for preparing the next generation of explorers traveling deeper into space to live and work on the Moon today and Mars tomorrow.
The 7th-10th grade STARS Astro Camp® includes extensive computer-focused robotics exercises and a hands-on 3D-printing experience with an emphasis on engineering design applications. Distance-learning experiences are featured, using NASA center experts and educators throughout NASA. An additional week is scheduled for the STARS ASTRO CAMP®, which features a collaboration of the U.S. Navy Research Laboratory’s SeaPerch remotely-operated vehicle program and NASA’s space-to-ocean robotics activities.
Each camp week culminates in a tour of Stennis Space Center, including the rocket engine test stands, the launching of each camper’s own Estes rocket, and parent participation in closing ceremonies each Friday.
Registration for the 2020 camps will begin in early 2020, and continues on a first-come, first-served basis until all camps are filled. For more information, contact the Stennis Education Office at 228-688-3485.
To register, visit the ASTRO CAMP® webpage at: COMING IN EARLY 2020
For more information about Stennis Space Center, visit: www.nasa.gov/centers/stennis/
