Michael Cole Graduates from Renowned Aviation Challenge – Mach I

Huntsville, AL – Michael Cole of Madison, AL, recently attended Aviation Challenge – Mach I at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center. The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and adults with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving.

Cole was part of the Aviation Challenge – Mach I Program, a program specifically designed for students who have an interest in military aviation and the mechanics of flight. Cole spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated F-18 fighter jet. The crew learned critical land- and water-survival skills and mastered Top Gun flying maneuvers. Michael and crew returned in time to graduate with honors.

Aviation Challenge opened in 1990 in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses fighter pilot training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in barracks designed to resemble military bays.

More than 750,000 trainees have graduated from Space Camp and its sister programs since its inception in Huntsville, Alabama in 1982, including STS-131 astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, European Space Agency astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti and Dr. Kate Rubins, who launched to the International Space Station this summer. Last year, children and teachers from all 50 states and 69 international locations attended Space Camp.

Interested in training like a fighter pilot? Visit www.spacecamp.com/aviation or call 1-800-637-7223.