Want to train like an astronaut for a day? Now you can

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex hosts 5-hour training session for kids

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER VISITOR COMPLEX – If your kids ever show interest in becoming the next generation of space explorers, what better way than to try a new experience at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex?

The experience is not only offers kids out-of-this-world fun, but the chance to really experience what astronauts do.

"We want people to enjoy the simulators and get the feel that they are training as an astronaut," Dee Maynard, the manager of education programs, said. 

Visitors work in teams to prepare for a trip to Mars. One exercise is working in a microgravity environment.

"We've designed this chair that's going to give you freedom of motion. What you're going to do is use this truss to simulate the space station, and you're actually going to use your safety tethers to hook on to different points in the truss so that as you're working, you don't thrift away from it," Maynard explained as she showed News 6 at Nine's Carolina Cardona one of several simulators.

The tasks that visitors are set up to do are actual tasks that astronauts do in outer space, like plug and unplug cables, screw and unscrew bolts, as well as move levers.

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The training experience is actually close to what astronauts go through before their missions.

"We've had five different astronauts on the microgravity trainer and they've all given the thumbs up. And when people walk in here they say, 'This looks like a NASA training center,'" Maynard said.

Another simulator is operated with the use of a headset and two controls on each hand. 

"The virtual reality walk on Mars where you walk around the surface of Mars and complete up to eight different missions," Maynard said about the exercise that places guests on the red planet.

The mission of that simulator is to grab rocks for testing and bring back equipment to the rover, a vehicle that was also built as a simulator where visitors can drive as if they're on Mars. 

The astronaut experience concept was launched after the shuttle program retired and it lifted off earlier this year.

"When we found out that one of NASA's goals was to go to Mars, we said, 'That's absolutely what we want to train for,'" Maynard said. 

The training is a five-hour program for people ages 10 and older. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult. For availability and pricing, visit the Space Center's website.


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