HUTCHINSON, Kan. - Levi DeWitt, son of Dan and Linda DeWitt of Caney, graduated from level 1 of the Future Astronaut Training Program (FATP) on June 6 at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. Levi will be a seventh grader at Caney Jr. High School in the fall.

The week-long introductory astronaut camp is for students entering grades 7-10 and emphasizes teamwork, leadership and problem solving. Developed by Cosmosphere staff, FATP is a nationally recognized camp that motivates campers to seek careers in space-related industries.

The Cosmosphere’s Future Astronaut Training Program (FATP) has four levels, each lasting six days. Levels 1 and 2 are held at the Cosmosphere; level 3 is held at the Cosmosphere for two days and then at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for two days; and level 4 is held at Kennedy Space Center in Florida for all six days. Campers must complete the lower level before progressing to the next.

Throughout the week, campers train in space simulators - the centrifuge, multi-axis trainer, space shuttle simulator (“Falcon III”) and stress simulator - and practice spacewalk rescues, launch homemade rockets, direct a robotic mission and learn night sky observation techniques. They also tour the Cosmosphere’s world-renowned Hall of Space Museum, visit the Justice Planetarium, and watch a live presentation of Dr. Goddard’s Lab.

The centrifuge is a rotating devise that tests people’s reactions to forces encountered during launch and reentry; the multi-axis trainer spins riders 360 degrees in multiple axes while simulating tumble-type maneuvers that could be encountered in spaceflight; the space shuttle simulator is the most realistic shuttle simulator outside of NASA, simulating launch, orbit, satellite deployment, reentry and landing; and the stress simulator incorporates external stimuli into a mission to replicate stressful situations encountered in spaceflight.

The cosmosphere is located at Hutchinson, Kan. For more information about FATP, call the education coordinator at 1 (800) 397-0330, ext. 323, or visit the cosmosphere web site at www.cosmo.org.