Huntsville, AL – Lexington, SC teen Austin Vestal recently attended Aviation Challenge Mach III 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.
This program is designed for students who have an interest in military aviation and the mechanics of flight. Students learn principles of aviation and put their knowledge to the test in a variety of flight simulators. Taking the role of fighter pilots, Austin and team ran control systems and scenario-based missions as well as trained in water and land survival. At the end of the week, Austin and crew returned in time to graduate with honors. Aviation Challenge opened in 1990 in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses fighter pilot training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble military bays. Almost 1 million trainees have graduated from a Space Camp® program since its inception in Huntsville 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 a fighter pilot? Visit www.spacecamp.com/aviation.
