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 BANGOR, Maine USA — "Five, four, three, two, one — liftoff!"
Nine youngsters from Greater Bangor and beyond gathered in a grassy field off Maine Avenue Tuesday to launch model rockets they assembled and painted earlier in the day as part of a summer camp program at the Challenger Learning Center of Maine. Despite a few minor malfunctions — including parachutes that failed to open, a rocket that got hung up in a tree and another that just couldn’t be found upon landing — the campers pronounced Tuesday afternoon’s launch event a success. "It went high and it didn’t get stuck in a tree," Andy Sandweiss, 9, of Bangor said about the launch of his own rocket, painted red and green. Like many youngsters his age, Sandweiss is fascinated by outer space. Though he wants to be an architect when he grows up, he thinks he might be able to incorporate his interest in outer space by working on designs for a space station or spaceship. Other campers also thought the launch went well. "It’s been very fun. This is my first time," Hunter Quinlan, 10, of Pittsfield said shortly after firing his Estes model rocket high into the blue skies over Bangor. Hunter Quinlan, along with his brother, Curran Quinlan, who turns 12 today, both attend St. Agnes School in Pittsfield. The two are enrolled in the center’s four-day rocket launcher camp for pupils in grades five through eight. The session, one of several offered this summer, began on Monday and concludes on Thursday with the launch of their largest rocket to date, the second-most powerful among model rockets. So far, about 100 starry-eyed youngsters in kindergarten through eighth-grade have attended various summer sessions at the center, including the junior, regular and advanced space explorer camps and astronaut training camp, new this year, according to John Lund, who along with Harry Michaud serves as a camp "flight director." Lund and Michaud are certified science teachers with decades of experience under their belts. They supervised the launches. Though most of the rocket launcher camp enrollees came from Greater Bangor, a few came from as far away as Carmel and Canaan, the latter of which is a nearly 50-mile commute from the Challenger center. "I learned a lot about Saturn V. That was pretty cool," Hunter Quinlan said. Campers also learned about the flight dynamics of rockets, the near weightlessness astronauts experience in space and about how hovercrafts work, thanks to a homemade version made from an old vacuum cleaner with a blower feature connected to a large round disc wrapped in black plastic film. Passengers sit atop a chair affixed to the device. Asked what turned him on to rockets and space, Curran Quinlan pointed to Michaud and said, "That man over there." Michaud spent some time teaching science at St. Agnes. There he introduced Curran Quinlan to rocketry. Curran Quinlan said he learned about the Challenger center’s summer camps and convinced his parents to allow him and his younger brother to attend. Since 2004, the Challenger Learning Center has been providing simulated space exploration missions to get students throughout the state excited about math and science. In addition to summer programs, the center offers numerous learning opportunities during the school year. It soon will begin offering programs during school vacation weeks, Lund said. For information, call 207-990-2900 or log on to http://www.clcofme.org/. Copyright © 2007, Bangor Daily News. |
