HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Because of COVID-19, the future of the Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center was uncertain, but they are blasting off with some modifications to keep attendees safe and healthy. 

They reached out to the community and camp alumni to help them make camp happen at a greatly reduced capacity. 

Alumni were asked to make portable handwashing stations and they had them go through revised missions so they could test out some of the new procedures.  

Pat Ammons, Senior Director of Communications at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center said, “We’re also excited because these are the very first students we’ve had since early March who’ve been back here in our program.” 

The weeklong Space Camp for kids is going to kick off this Sunday, June 29th. Over 250 kids are going to be starting their Space Camp experience, things are going to look a little different because of COVID-19, but they’re still going to learn all they need to know about space. 

“Everyone is spaced at a distance from each other, we’re trying to maintain social distancing at all times, we’re requiring our students to wear masks and we’re also requiring all our staff to wear masks,” Ammons said.  

The center is enforcing as many measures to ensure that the area is safe for those coming through the program. The summer is already full, but Ammons encourages those who are interested in space camp to look into the 2021 session.  

“But for now, what we’re going to do for the students  we can bring in and for these amazing teachers that we have here right now is create the best, safest, most fun opportunity that we can possibly create for them and keep everybody safe doing it.” 

Normally the students attending camp would be from all over the world, but for now, the students will be coming in from neighboring areas, due to travel restrictions to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.