HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Anderson Buck of Pittsfield recently attended Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, home of Space Camp, Space Camp Robotics, Aviation Challenge and U.S. Cyber Camp.

The Rocket Center is a Smithsonian Affiliate and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s Official Visitor Center.

The weeklong educational program promotes science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), while training students and with hands-on activities and missions based on teamwork, leadership and problem solving.

The program is specifically designed for trainees who have a passion for space exploration. Buck spent the week training with a team that flew a simulated space mission to the International Space Station, the Moon or Mars. The crew participated in experiments and successfully completed an extra-vehicular activity, or spacewalk.

Buck and crew returned to earth in time to graduate with honors.

Space Camp is located in Huntsville, Alabama, and uses astronaut training techniques to engage trainees in real-world applications of STEM subjects. Students sleep in quarters designed to resemble the ISS and train in simulators like those used by NASA.

For more information, visit rocketcenter.com.