By User Submitted
Hutchinson, Kan. – Taylor Stein and Cameron Stein, sons of David and Karen Stein of Haysville, Kan., recently completed Level 3 of the Future Astronaut Training Program at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kan. The week-long camp, for which students may apply after successfully completing Levels 1 and 2, included a trip to Houston, Texas, to tour NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
In Houston, campers toured Building 9, which houses NASA’s space shuttle trainers and the International Space Station mock-up. The group’s behind-the-scenes visit also included a tour of both the former and current Mission Control Centers, the Mars Advanced Integration Matrix Laboratories and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab’s 6.2-million-gallon pool where astronauts to train for work in microgravity.
At a special evening banquet for the campers, NASA Systems Integration Lead Dr. Jack Bacon discussed the development of the International Space Station and the countries that participate in the partnership. Bacon’s career as a professional engineer has included work in artificial intelligence, thermonuclear fusion, space, and globalization of networks and commerce.
Before traveling to Houston, the campers trained on simulators related to both manned and unmanned spaceflight. They trained in the Centrifuge, which simulates the g-forces of a space shuttle launch, and flew in both an Advanced Flight Simulator, housed in an actual F-101 cockpit, and in an F-16 trainer acquired from the Air Force. The campers’ training culminated in an advanced space shuttle mission aboard the Cosmosphere’s state-of-the-art space shuttle simulator, the Falcon III.
As one of the country’s top residential space education programs for students entering grades 7-10, more than 8,500 participants from across the country and around the world have graduated from the Cosmosphere’s Future Astronaut Training Program since its beginning in 1985.
For more information on the Future Astronaut Training Program, call 620.662.2305 or 800.397.0330, ext. 323, or visit the Cosmosphere’s website at www.cosmo.org.