Zoe and Jack O’Shea attended a week-long robotics educational program promoting STEM at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Hunstville, Ala.
Zoe O’Shea and Jack O’Shea of Haddonfield recently attended a Robotics Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center from Sunday, July 30 to Friday, Aug. 4. 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.
The O’Sheas were part of the Robotics Academy program, which is specifically designed for trainees who have a particular interest in 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, Jack, Zoe and the other trainees tested 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 STS-131 astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, European Space Agency astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA Expedition 48 astronaut Dr. Kate Rubins. Last year, children and teachers from all 50 states and 69 international locations attended Space Camp.
