It Really Is Rocket Science! Campers to Build and Launch Model Rockets at Triton Collegee Title

RIVER GROVE, Ill. — Prepare for liftoff!

Next week, the Cernan Earth and Space Center at Triton College will once again host junior astronauts and space engineers for its weeklong Rocket Camp, where campers with a thirst for the final frontier will build and launch model rockets on campus.

Capping off the week of rocket-fueled fun, campers will be joined by friends and family as their hand-crafted projectiles shoot into the sky.

• Launch day is scheduled for Friday, July 11, from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

Before blastoff, Wayne Foster, a planetarium educator at the Cernan Center along with Bob Kaplow, a local National Association of Rocketry member who serves as launch director, will teach campers in grades five through eight about spacecraft mechanics and the roles rockets play getting payloads and people into space and exploring the cosmos beyond. This will be Foster’s fourth time leading the camp, which he looks forward to each year.

Campers will experiment with Newton’s laws and explore basic rocket science and safety. Each student will build two, class 1 model rockets: one simple and one complex, which they will take home at the end of the week.

Foster enjoys seeing creativity take hold as his students construct and customize their rockets. He also takes pride in fostering camaraderie and friendship among campers.

“I like seeing the connections and friends that the kids make in the camp,” he said. “Even though it’s only a week long, I have several kids who return year after year and who have made very strong friendships in this one-week-long camp, which I’m very proud of.”

Perhaps the best part for Foster is witnessing the campers’ exhilaration when the engines ignite and rockets are hurled upward into the sky.

“I love seeing the excitement on launch day,” he said. “And I love watching their amazement at something they’ve built shooting 500 feet into the air.”

For launch day, the Cernan Center invites friends and family of the campers to watch from a safe distance as their inventions and imaginations take flight.

The Cernan Earth and Space Center, named after former astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to leave his footprints on the Moon, offers public planetarium programs, laser light shows and free telescope observing throughout the year. To see the full schedule of events, visit the Cernan webpage, or call (708) 456-0300, Ext. 3372.

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Media Contacts:
Melissa Ramirez Cooper | melissacooper@triton.edu | 708-456-0300, Ext. 3496
Hunter Oberst | hunteroberst@triton.edu | 708-456-0300, Ext. 3820

ABOUT TRITON COLLEGE
Triton College is an institution of higher education dedicated to student success. Triton offers more than 120 degree and certificate programs designed for students to realize their career aspirations and effectively compete in a global economy. The college campus spans 110 acres in River Grove, Illinois, holds classes at satellite locations and offers online learning opportunities. Triton’s exemplary faculty and staff work to provide high-quality, convenient and affordable educational opportunities to more than 10,000 students each year. Triton College is a member of The Community Colleges of Illinois and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Learn more at triton.edu.