Out of This World

Students from C. E. Williams Middle School in West Ashley recently attended Pathfinder at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala., NASA’s official Visitor Information Center for Marshall Space Flight Center and the home of Space Camp and Aviation Challenge. The three-day educational program promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), while training students and adults with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership, and decision-making.
C. E. Williams students were part of the Pathfinder Program, which is designed for elementary and middle school students who have a particular interest in science. The students spent their three-days training with a team that flew a simulated Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Once aboard the ISS, the crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or space walk. C. E. Williams trainees 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. Nearly 700,000 trainees have graduated from Space Camp since its opening in Huntsville in 1982. Last year, children and teachers from all 50 states and 64 international locations attended Space Camp.