Out of this world at space camp

Bedford Journal: Out of this world at space camp

By AMY SOLOMON

Staff Writer

Last month, seven children got to participate in Bedford Parks and Recreation’s Mad Science’s Space Camp: Journey into Outer Space.

Mad Science is a world-wide science enrichment program providing hands-on experiences for children.

Designed with the help of NASA, Mad Science’s Space Camp aims to introduce kids to “all aspects of space exploration, including rocket science, the sun, stars, galaxies and living in space” said Christine from Mad Science.

Despite some hot temperatures, Mad Science camp instructor, Steven Rugoletti, a high school science teacher in Plaistow, engaged the children in numerous activities to learn about everything from comets and stars to satellites and the space shuttle Atlantis.

The kids got first-hand experience of how craters are formed when a meteorite strikes the Earth or another massive object in space. The activity taught them how the displaced sediment is scattered, which can then enter the atmosphere.

By the end of the week, the campers had great knowledge about comets, meteors, satellites, planets, the moon, and stars.

“A Space Nut,” as he calls himself, Rugoletti enjoyed “watching the wonder in (the campers’) eyes. These kids really make your day when there’s an ‘a-ha’ moment and they realize or discover new things. They just glow with excitement!”

Space camps seem to be more widespread. Kids and kids-at-heart are able to participate in space camps and other space-related programs at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord.

Named after astronaut Christa McAuliffe, the New Hampshire school teacher who passed away in the shuttle Challenger disaster, and Alan Shepard, a New Hampshire native and the first American in space, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center offers a planetarium, observatory, interactive exhibits, a museum and summer camps for children and teenagers.

Throughout the year, there are weekly and monthly programs ranging from teacher workshops and a weeklong summer symposium for teachers to “Teen Night Club” for high school students, home-school workshops and “Rocketeers,” a monthly program where children have the opportunity to build and launch their own rocket. In addition, seven different summer camps for children are offered for children ages 5-14.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center has seen almost double the participants in its camps compared to last year. Although spring and summer are the Discovery Center’s busier months, there is always a quiet place with many visitors watching a show in the planetarium.

Despite the end of the space shuttle program and the uncertainty of NASA’S future, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center will “continue to honor McAuliffe and Shepard while maintaining (its) commitment to providing programs in the fields of mathematics, science, technology and engineering” said Jennifer Jones, of the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.