Ohio Valley sophomore heads to space camp for a down-to-earth education

WINTERSVILLE, Ohio (WTRF) — Space camp.
It’s the final frontier for every student fascinated by the idea of weightless exploration of planets shining distantly in the night sky.

The NASA Advanced Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama is the closest you can get without strapping in for an actual space mission.

And while many children and teens across America have wanted to attend the weeklong camp, Indian Creek’s Morgan McCumbers is one of the few who experienced zero gravity this summer.

“They like to be very secretive about what all the activities are going to be, so you’re surprised.”

Morgan McCumbers, Indian Creek sophomore, attended space camp

The incoming sophomore says she had been asking since middle school to be among the 26,000 space students every year, before her parents surprised her with an enrollment at Christmas.

And for a student interested in science, it was a star-aligning experience.

With her team, she launched a rocket, built heat shields and did underwater astronaut training.

She even spent time attached to a 360-degree spinning sphere called a multi-axis trainer.

“He activated the machine and you would spin around, but he would ask us questions like ‘ What’s your favorite color? What’s your name? Where are you from?’ And we had to answer them while spinning.”

Morgan McCumbers, Indian Creek sophomore, attended space camp

She describes her adventure as almost military-like in discipline, with days lasting from 7 am until late in the evening.

But it was worth it to get to do a weather report for Mars, just like on the International Space Station.

She fondly remembered the more earthbound missions too, like helping her teammates cross platforms with just two wooden planks.

“So that built teamwork, trying to get everyone to cross. And there were some other things. Basically the whole thing was you had to work together and communicate.”

Morgan McCumbers, Indian Creek sophomore, attended space camp

Words that are just as applicable high up in the solar system, and way down here on the earth’s surface.

Morgan is also interested in English and theater.

But when she gets out of school, she hopes to study exobiology or exometeorology, both of which involve environments outside of earth.

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