When Stella Abel, left, graduated from space camp recently, she got the opportunity to meet astronaut Mike Foreman, center, and shake his hand, along with crew trainer Sarena Blanco. Abel attended the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s space camp recently, where she learned what it’s like to be an astronaut, her dream career.
(Photo submitted)
A young Marysville resident is a step closer to reaching her dream of becoming an astronaut.
Stella Abel is a freshman at Marysville Early College High School, and she’s already thinking about what she wants to do after school. With her passions set in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and space studies, she found an opportunity to attend a week-long training camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s space academy.
“I learned a lot of small things and a little bit about myself as well,” Abel said. “It really only fed the flame of my desire to be an astronaut.”
Abel’s aunt and uncle showed her information about the educational camp. When she found out about the space camp, she was “bouncing up and down excited.”
After flying alone to Huntsville, Alabama, she was amazed by the attention to detail when she arrived at camp. Everything from the barracks to the activities were made to reflect the International Space Station (ISS) and NASA training simulations.
“I thought it would be a lot of fun, and I was correct,” Abel said. “(I expected) to gain knowledge of spacey stuff.”
While at camp, she participated in many different activities that immersed her in what a NASA astronaut do. She rode in G-force machines, built miniature rockets to launch and participated in simulated “space missions.”
Abel played the role of payload communications manager, or PAYCOM, in a simulated mission to the ISS, where she communicated with her team’s shuttle.
She found that confusing, but luckily she had another mission where she was the station commander, where she “flipped switches and did the experiment with some people” to make sure she and her crew completed their mission.
“There were a lot of anomalies, and I was like, ‘oh God, what do I do?’” Abel said. “Eventually I closed the payload doors and we got home to Earth safely.”
From conducting experiments to trying out space food, with freeze-dried ice cream being her favorite, she said she learned a lot about what she wants to do in life.
“I just have a general goal of being an astronaut,” Abel said.
She said she’s definitely looking to attend college to earn a degree in engineering. She also wants to enlist in the United States Air Force after high school to obtain her pilot certification.
She’s also working on getting at least two hours of physical exercise every day to avoid muscle atrophy when she’s in space in the future.