McKenzie Gerlicher graduates from Space Camp. Her mother, Catherine Snelson, says McKenzie now wants to be an astrobiologist and travel to the ISS and Mars. Courtesy photo
McKenzie Gerlicher participates as a mission control specialist during a scenario at Space Camp. Courtesy photo
Setting up rockets to launch during Space Camp. Courtesy photo
McKenzie Gerlicher during training at Space Camp. Courtesy photo
SPACE ACADEMY NEWS
McKenzie Gerlicher of Los Alamos, NM recently attended Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, home of Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics™, Aviation Challenge® and U.S. Cyber Camp®. The Rocket Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.
The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and 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. McKenzie spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated space mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon or Mars. The crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk. McKenzie and crew returned to earth in time to graduate with honors.
Space Camp is located in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the ISS and train in simulators like those used by NASA.
Almost a million 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 set the record for the longest duration space flight by a female. Children and teachers from all 50 states and almost 150 international locations have attended a Space Camp® program.
Interested in training like an astronaut? Visit www.spacecamp.com or call 1-800-637-7223.