Kinston children attend space camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center
A pair of children from Kinston, Danny ‘Duke’ Webb, left, and Charlie Gerran, center, attended the Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. Submitted photo
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Two young Kinston residents had the opportunity to learn at a place out of this world.
Danny “Duke” Webb son of Danny and Katie Webb, and Charlie Gerran son of Julie and Hunt Gerran, both of Kinston, NC recently attended Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, home of Space Camp®, Space Camp® Robotics™, Aviation Challenge®, U.S. Cyber Camp® and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.
The weeklong educational program promoted science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving. The program is specifically designed for trainees who have a passion for space exploration.
Duke 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. Duke and crew returned to earth in time to graduate with honors.
Space Camp operates year-round 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.
More than 850,000 trainees have graduated from a Space Camp® program since its inception in Huntsville, Alabama, 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 is serving onboard the International Space Station. Children and teachers from all 50 states and almost 150 international locations have attended a Space Camp® program.
