Date Added: 18-06-2008

Space Camp - an Alabama state program - gives more than half a million kids a week of training in what it takes to be an astronaut.

CNET News - San Francisco,CA,USA

HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--I'm spinning around at high speed, and I'm going in all directions.

You might think it's a state of mind, but it was actually my body doing the spinning, as I was strapped into a multi-axis trainer, a three-ringed device used to demonstrate to participants at Space Camp here one of the things would-be astronauts had to go through to be chosen to be launched into space.

Space Camp, if you're not familiar with it, is an Alabama state program that since 1982 has given more than half a million kids a week of training in what it takes to be an astronaut. I had come here as part of Road Trip 2008, my journey through the South, to see a little bit of what I had been hearing about since my teen years.
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During their week here, kids aged 7 to 18 get a primer in a series of space-related activities, including piloting a space shuttle, running a shuttle mission, repairing a busted satellite, moon walking, and, yes, being spun around with huge force on the multi-axis trainer.

Read the entire article: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9970134-52.html