Bennett attends robotics academy

Matthew Bennett of Tuscola recently attended Robotics Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Space and Rocket Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.

The weeklong 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.

This program is specifically designed for trainees who have a particular interest in programming and engineering. The mission of Space Camp Robotics is to show trainees how engineers develop solutions for real-world problems using real-world technologies. At all age levels, trainees use state-of-the-art robotics systems to compete in air, sea and land activities and missions. Using the Office of Naval Research’s SeaPerch undersea robotics, Bennett and the other trainees test payloads on an unmanned aerial vehicle, all while strengthening teamwork and leadership skills. At the end of their missions, the teams arrived in time to graduate with honors.

More than 750,000 trainees have graduated from Space Camp and its sister programs since its inception in Huntsville, Ala., in 1982, including European Space Agency astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Dr. Kate Rubins and Dr. Serena Auñón, who recently launched to the International Space Station. Children and teachers from all 50 states and 69 international locations have attended a Space Camp program.