The 5th annual 4-H aerospace camp was held July 21-25, 1997 at Martin Jr. High in Austin with 92 campers in attendance. This fine day camp is sponsored by the Travis County Extension Service in conjunction with its 4-H programs. The camp is open to all Austin area children ages nine through twelve with scholarships available for youth at risk.
The first three days of camp involved the children attending four class sessions per day. The subjects included: the mission to Mars, astronomy, toys in space, a talk with an airline pilot, kite making, and rocket building. There was also a physics circus (demonstration) put on by two physics professors from the University of Texas. In the rocket building class, each camper built their own rocket and the rockets were launched on Thursday morning. Each child’s rocket was launched successfully and they were able to take them home afterward. Some of the rockets flew higher than 500 feet, but most were in the 300-500 foot range.
Field trips for the camp included a tour of the military museum at Camp Mabry and a visit to the National Guard facility at Robert Mueller Airport where the campers were able to get in the pilot seat of a helicopter. On Friday, the final day of camp, the campers took a day long field trip to NASA and Space Center Houston leaving Austin at 8:00am and returning at 1 0:00pm.
Adult leaders of the camp included employees of the Travis County Extension Service, the University of Texas, local artists, an American Airlines pilot, and TxDOT Aviation Division employee Russell Deason. If anyone is interested in starting a similar camp in their community, please contact the Aviation Division for information.