Space Camp Takes Off | Video

Kristin Clouston | 7/16/2012

Many of us have been trying to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights at night, but some kids in Bismarck are learning about space during the day. Gateway to Science has offered space camp for the past few years. It`s the center`s most popular summer camp and is always the first to fill up.

At first glance, this looks like any other camp that has kids doing arts and crafts, but these guys are preparing to have some explosive fun.

"They`ve learned kind of what is in space. They learned about the asteroid belt, and the planets and kind of how a rocket works is what they`re learning right now they spend all week working on this rocket," said Education Outreach Coordinator Arin Casavant.

"Mr. Schultz our teacher said that if you do everything correctly it`s supposed to go like 300 feet," said camper Jordan Porter.

"You have to get the engine just right otherwise it will barely go three feet," said camper Conan Blair.

The camp orders the engines, but the rest of the rockets are built from scratch.

"They make these rockets so they work with really simple things like a paper towel tube, the rocket itself we just use rubber bands, paper clips it`s just simple things you can find in an office or a house and they light up the fuse and up it goes," Casavant said.

Return campers say they`re usually blown away by all the fun they have at camp.

"Because I like pushing big red buttons and it`s so fun just to watch them explode in mid air and come crashing , well not crashing, but come sputtering down," Porter said.

The campers will get to test out their rockets at the end of the week.

If setting off rockets sounds like a good time, you`ll want to head over to Gateway to Science on Saturday. The center is hosting family rocket day from 12:30 to 3:30.

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