Sam Nichols, 13, Warsaw, participated in the NearSpace Education summer space camp in Upland July 21-25. Photo provided by NearSpace Education.

News Release

UPLAND — Sam Nichols’ biggest project in July wasn’t catching up on summer homework: it was launching satellites into space.

From July 21-25, NearSpace Education hosted its last summer space camp for the season from its Upland hub. Nichols, 13, Warsaw, was one of 15 students from across the nation to participate in the overnight program.

Throughout the week, participants anywhere between the sixth and 12th grades engaged in a variety of hands-on S.T.E.M. activities that stretched their creative and technical skills. Students came from five U.S. States and two foreign countries, Switzerland and Nigeria.

Daily tasks such as soldering circuit boards, programming computer boards and robots, using computer-aided design, and practicing 3D printing, ultimately accumulated into each students’ final project: a fully refined and tested satellite.

Ten-foot weather balloons were used to launch the 250 gram satellites to the top 1% of Earth’s atmosphere, or, 17 miles from the surface of the earth. Students gathered data and tracked their experiments, later chasing down the descended packages. Nichols loved building his skill set and learning how to solder, however, was most excited to launch the weather balloon.

Applicants for the program are selected based on their passion for the world of STEM. Individualized interactions and attention helps NSE staff to guide young, growing professionals.

July’s space camp is one of multiple that NSE has hosted for students since 2021. Through their camps, they’ve been able to offer training beyond the classroom experience. The organization has operated with the goal of providing immersive STEM-based opportunities to enrich the next generation to enter the field.