Each year, more than 400 Mississippi and out-of-state youths visit Stennis Space Center for weeklong Astro Camp activities. Astro Camp sessions are for children ages 7-12. The focus for 2012 Astro Camp participants was on 'What's Next for NASA! Moon, Mars, Asteroids and Beyond.'

Each year, more than 400 Mississippi and out-of-state youths visit Stennis Space Center for weeklong Astro Camp activities. As in previous years, a highlight of the 2012 sessions was the launching of campers' rockets.

Each year, more than 400 Mississippi and out-of-state youths visit Stennis Space Center for weeklong Astro Camp activities. In 2012, campers investigated the science behind 21st century space travel, particularly related to the International Space Station and how astronauts live and work aboard the orbiting space laboratory.

Each year, more than 400 Mississippi and out-of-state youths visit Stennis Space Center for weeklong Astro Camp activities. During 2012 sessions, campers were asked to design a human outpost for one of three distant destinations in our solar system: the moon, Mars or an asteroid.

Young people prepare model rockets during an Astro Camp activity at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi. Stennis hosted the camp June 28 - July 1 in support of the White House Military Families Initiative. The camp also marked the beginning of a partnership between Stennis and Keesler to provide NASA education experiences to military children and to train children and youth care-providers. It is hoped that this activity can be expanded to other military bases next summer.

Summer is a time of educational activity at Stennis Space Center. In June 2012, 25 young people age 13-15 attended the annual Astro STARS (Spaceflight, Technology, Astronomy and Robotics at Stennis) camp at the rocket engine test facility. During the five-day camp, participants engaged in hands-on experiences in a variety of areas, including engineering and robotics. On the final day, campers launched model rockets they had assembled.

Tom Nicolaides, an aerospace technologist in the Engineering & Test Directorate at Stennis Space Center, looks on as 2011 Astro STARS participants take turns gazing at the sun through a special telescope. The sun-gazing activity was part of the Astro STARS (Spaceflight, Technology, Astronomy & Robotics at Stennis) camp for 13-to-15-year-olds June 27 - July 1. The weeklong science and technology camp is held each year onsite at the rocket engine test facility.

Fallon Nettles (left), an Astro Camp counselor at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, assists a young fan attending the University of Southern Mississippi football game in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Oct. 17 in launching a balloon 'rocket.' Prior to the game, Stennis Space Center hosted hands-on activities and exhibits for families as part of its first-ever Space Day at USM. The activities were versions of those featured in the daylong and weeklong Astro Camp sessions sponsored by Stennis throughout each year. Stennis Space Center is located in nearby Hancock County and is the nation's premier rocket engine testing facility. The USM activities were part of Stennis' ongoing effort to educate people about the NASA mission and to introduce children and young people to space and space exploration.

Katie Craig, daughter of former Stennis Space Center Deputy Director Mark Craig, launches a 'balloon rocket' with the help of Rebecca Compretta, Astro Camp coordinator at SSC. SSC took Astro Camp on the road to Florida this week to engage children and their parents during activities surrounding the Aug. 8 launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour on NASA's STS-118 mission to the International Space Station. Astro Camp is SSC's popular space camp program designed to inspire and educate students using science and math principles.

Children at Astro Camp at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Miss., launch rockets as one of their activities in the weeklong camp. Each week during the summer, approximately 30 children ages 9-12 from across Mississippi and Louisiana spend a week learning about space flight. Astro Camp Saturday offers a condensed version of Astro Camp on the third Saturday of each month from January through May 2001.

Tammy Estapa and Wesley Oliver from Stennis Space Center assist young people visiting the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., to participate in Astro Camp activities.

Ian Tonglet, 13, (left) and Seth Malley, 13, both of Picayune, Miss., and both participants in the 2010 Astro Stars session at Stennis Space Center, work with an underwater robot during a camp activity June 29. NASA joined with the U.S. Navy for the underwater robotics exercise involving Sea Perch robots, which are simple, remotely operated underwater vehicles made from PVC pipe and other inexpensive, easily available materials. During the Stennis exercise, students used robots constructed earlier in the day to maneuver underwater and collect plastic rings, as seen to the left of Tonglet. Astro STARS (Spaceflight, Technology, Astronomy & Robotics @ Stennis) is a science and technology camp for 13-15 year olds.

Chris Copelan (right), education program specialist at Stennis Space Center, and Maria Lott, Stennis Astro Camp director, talk about living and working in space with visitors gathered for the 'What's Your Favorite Space?' event in New York City on Aug. 17. Stennis educators teamed with peers from three other NASA centers to present a variety of hands-on activities and informational presentations during the event.

NASA Stennis summer intern Madison Godbold, right, shares about her work of inspiring the Artemis Generation through ASTRO Camp activities during an Aug. 7 event hosted by the Office of STEM Engagement. Godbold, a student at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, worked with the NASA Stennis Office of STEM Engagement. The poster symposium highlighted research topics, including propulsion test operations, lunar robotics, autonomous systems, STEM education, and more. NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement paid internships allow high school and college-level students to contribute to the agency’s mission to advance science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration.

Tori Williams, of Brownie Girl Scout Troop 313, builds her own `stomp rocket' with the help of adult chaperone Pamela Cottrell. The two, of Gulfport, participated in NASA Brownie Day on Oct. 13 at Stennis Space Center. They were among nearly 200 members of Brownie Girl Scout Troops within the Gulf Pines Council who took part in the day of educational activities at SSC. Brownie Day used NASA curriculum support materials to teach about the sun and its significance in our solar system. In addition to building and launching their own model rockets, the girls toured the center's portable Starlab planetarium; viewed demonstrations about living and working in space; played games of `Moon Phasers' that teach about the rotation of the moon around the earth; made bracelets with ultraviolet-sensitive beads; and other activities that celebrated Earth's very own star. They also toured StenniSphere and were able to earn their Earth and Sky and Space Explorer `Try-Its.'