Get ready for lift-off into STEM-powered fun! At Explorer Camps, kids engage in hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math challenges that bring space exploration to life. From programming robots and designing space habitats to launching rockets and solving real-world engineering problems, each day sparks creativity and critical thinking.
Perfect for curious minds in Pre-K through 11 years old, our camps inspire future astronauts, engineers, and innovators. Campers build teamwork skills, gain confidence, and learn from expert educators at the official visitor center of NASA, Johnson Space Center.
Where STEM meets the stars—only at Space Center Houston!
Browse our Explorer Camp Parent’s Guide filled with information such as with program contacts, hours, meal options, pickup procedures and more.
$74.95 | 1-Day Camp
Campers will learn all about engineering with LEGOS and robotics through hands-on STEM activities. Whether they are exploring how gravity affects moving objects, programing a robot, or creating solar system art, your camper will be inspired to learn about the world around them and beyond.
$74.95 | 1-Day Camp
Campers learn about rockets and the force needed to launch a rocket at NASA that allows them to send astronauts into space. This one-day Explorer Camp experience will model a shock absorbing system that will safeguard the astronaut when they land on Mars and learn about different layers and materials within the soils of the Earth and the Moon.
$74.95 | 1-Day Camp
Campers will gain confidence as they practice how to successfully code and program various robotics, including LEGO robotic platforms in fun and engaging ways. This one-day explorer camp will leave your camper feeling accomplished, inspired, and ready to solve the problems of future space travels.
$74.95 | 1-Day Camp
Throughout the day, campers design like engineers and act as scientists to prepare for a mission to the Moon. Understanding the Earth/Moon system by modeling the scale sizes and distances between the Earth and Moon, design and build a landing system to protect two astronauts when they land on the Lunar surface from the Gateway.
July 7-11
Cost | $299.95
This Mars adventure camp’s mission is to explore Mars’ surface and its climate through engineering challenges and science experiments. Campers will understand Mars’ position in our Solar system and gain knowledge of astronaut training, circuits, robotics, and rocketry for future exploration.
Day 1 – Absorb what the red planet has to offer and experience the cold and windy environment of Mars. Discover how far the Earth is from the Sun Make a mission patch for upcoming missions and explorer Mars through 3D NASA images.
Day 2 – 3.2.1. LIFT OFF! Build and launch your rocket, learn the basics of rocketry, and discover how far Mars is from the Sun and the Earth.
Day 3 – Suit up for a trip to the rocky fourth planet by designing a suit astronauts wear while traveling to Mars. Make a Martian rock, dig on the surface of Mars.
Day 4 – How can we explore with the help of robots on Mars? Train like an astronaut, build and program your rovers as they model what a rover can do on Mars like Curiosity, and look for what’s green on Mars!
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, design a constellation, construct a telescope and chart the stars.
July 14-18
Cost | $299.95
Young robotic engineers learn how to design, build, and program robots in this adventure. Get creative with problem-solving techniques and coding skills by using a variety of robots and technology to overcome space related challenges.
Day 1 – Learn how robots are programed and create an algorithm your robot will follow to complete a mission.
Day 2 – Apply sequences of commands to complete a robotics obstacle course and understanding patterns with robotic devices
Day 3 – BUGS! Spot a computer “bug” and fix it in your program. Then, guide a robot on a mission through space.
Day 4 – Patterns are found everywhere, even in robotics. Explore programing your own robots with patterned sequences of code.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, produce your program to perform certain robotic tasks.
July 21-25
Cost | $299.95
Let us explore space! Whether exploring how gravity affects moving objects, programing a robot, or creating solar system art, your camper is inspired to learn about the world around them and beyond.
Day 1 – Grasp how astronauts float and explore the eight planets as they orbit around the Sun.
Day 2 – Study Earth from above, by designing a space suit and train like an astronaut in dexterity challenges.
Day 3 – Create rockets to zoom to the moon! Perform experiments and propel rockets into the sky.
Day 4 – Perform experiments and engineer structures using robotic arms and doing a robotic arm tower relay.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, assemble and program robots through obstacle courses.
July 28-August 1
Cost | $299.95
Learn what astronauts face when they travel to the Moon. Explorers-in-training will find adventure by exploring the Moon’s surface with robotics and understanding its place in the Solar System.
Day 1 – How is there a man on the Moon?? Discover Earth-Moon relationships and investigate the Moon’s interesting features.
Day 2 – Shoot for the Moon! Launch rockets and learn the basics of rocketry.
Day 3 – Experience what it would be like to live on the Moon and experience the next generation of space suits.
Day 4 – Robots on the Moon?! Learn about future rovers that NASA may use to travel on the surface of the moon and maneuver robots like lunar rovers.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, build robots and discover the planets that make up our solar system.
August 4-8
Cost | $299.95
Our Planet, Our Home. Campers discover all the features that make Earth the most desirable place for us to call home. Learn all about the Earth cycles and Earth’s position in the solar system through art and STEM activities.
Day 1 – Explore the eight planets in our solar system and discover Earth’s place in space.
Day 2 – Experiment with how Earth’s rotation affects things from seasons to nighttime.
Day 3 – Earth’s place in space is just right. Discover how gravity, air, and much more make Earth the perfect place to live.
Day 4 – How do we see distant stars not in our solar system? Investigate constellations and construct telescopes.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, conserve and use recycled materials to engineer and design.
July 7-11
Cost | $299.95
Mars is a rich destination for human exploration and discovery. These young engineers learn the basics of rocketry, discover coding, and explore hands-on science activities. Discover how science and technology can solve problems that astronauts face when they travel to Mars.
Day 1 – Train like an astronaut and design a mission patch. You will know what it takes to go to outer space through engineering, robotics, understanding how circuits work, and astronaut training.
Day 2 – Journey through the solar system to Mars to learn where it is located. Design rockets and learn about energy and find what it’s like to live on Mars
Day 3 – How do we get rovers like Spirit and Curiosity on the surface of Mars? Create a rover and a landing system to safely place a lander you design on Mars.
Day 4 – What will it be like to live on Mars? Construct necessities like a water filtration system, and greenhouse and build a habitat for daily Martian living.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, map out the rocky red planet and code a robot to make its way through the rough terrain
July 14-18
Cost | $299.95
Taking “out of the box” to new and exciting places. Discover what it takes to solve problems related to space exploration. Your little builders are immersed in innovative problem-solving, building simple machines, art projects, and robotics.
Day 1 – Learn about measurements and how accuracy is needed to design anything for space exploration. Then, create a catapult using the engineering process.
Day 2 – Solve real-world problems. Design a city like civil engineers and race to build a car powered by wind.
Day 3 – Construct a rover, like the ones sent to Mars. Explore the act of block coding through simulations.
Day 4 – Brrrr! Choreograph a rescue mission using science to save an astronaut stuck in ice. Work with your crew to investigate the concept of buoyancy and construct towers that measure up.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, engineer a space habitat for a future crew to inhabit.
July 21-25
Cost | $299.95
Welcome to all things robotics and coding! Experience a multitude of robotics platforms to complete space exploration missions. Your engineer will build and program robots, and solve problems through code.
Day 1 – Discover the shocking ways electricity and circuits benefit us not only in space, but in our everyday lives.
Day 2 – How do robots know what to do? Learn to think like a robot and program a rover.
Day 3 – Sequences, algorithms, and coding! Oh my! Form programing for various robots.
Day 4 – Utilize loops and demonstrate how robots can help solve problems on “station” and home.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, code a color sensing robot for a mission to Mars.
July 28-August 1
Cost | $299.95
While Artemis will take astronauts on a journey back to the Moon, your voyager will have the chance to experience many robotic platforms to master basic coding challenges tied to the Moon mission. Encounter rocketry, astronaut training, exploration and living on the Moon.
Day 1 – Navigate the stars with sextants and learn how Earth and the Moon interact.
Day 2 – Engineer multiple rockets and launch them! Then, build a rover and compete in a rover challenge.
Day 3 – Phase into lunar exploration. Create a model of the moon phases and send a rover on a mission to the Moon.
Day 4 – Is the Moon made of cheese? Investigate the layers and materials that make up lunar soil and design a lunar habitat.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, discover exoplanets and block programming.
August 4-8
Cost | $299.95
How do astronauts work in space? Will people ever go to Mars? How do robots work? What do engineers do? All these questions and more are answered as campers explore space through art, science, robotics, and engineering activities.
Day 1 – Experience what astronauts do daily as they live aboard the ISS and see the next generation of NASA designs for space exploration.
Day 2 – Design a safe UV habitat and participate in a lander challenge.
Day 3 – No passport required! Travel though the solar system and experiment with what makes each planet unique.
Day 4 – Discover the mysteries of space and create replicas of objects captured by the Hubble telescope.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, launch your own rockets and program robots.
July 7-11
Cost | $299.95
Challenge your junior scientist to seek solutions to the obstacles of deep space, engage in engineering design challenges, use robotic platforms, and delve into deep space challenges.
Day 1 – Make the journey and experience what NASA astronauts need to survive and explore on Mars. Learn how Astronauts train for the different parts of the solar system, live in microgravity and create a greenhouse for their Habitat on Mars.
Day 2 – How do engineers test equipment for entry and re-entry? Design and test thermal tiles and capsules to ensure the safety of our Orion crew members.
Day 3 – Create and test multiple rockets and launch them to new heights. Calculate launch windows and orbit trajectories to generate an approximate landing to Mars.
Day 4 – Do you want to live on Mars? Design what a crew would need to have a long term stay on the red planet. Build a water filtration system, design an inflatable habitat and present your design to your team.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, use block programming to collect Martian rock samples just like Curiosity.
July 14-18
Cost | $350.00
Explore a wide variety of innovative robotic platforms all in one camp. Through project-based robotic challenges, campers use their skills in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and coding to solve simulated anomalies that arise in space exploration.
Day 1 – Travel through low Earth orbit. Participate in ISS docking challenges, simulations, and spacewalks.
Day 2 – Drive and program robots to land and cross the Martian surface.
Day 3 – What is coding? Discover block coding to learn the basics of robotic movement.
Day 4 – Design a control panel to manipulate a simulation you create. Operate and evaluate the efficiency of multiple engineering builds.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, continue to complete robotic challenges and use robots who read color programing.
July 21-25
Cost | $299.95
Explore how astronauts live and work in space, learn rocketry basics, and plan for future missions. Everything from programming robots and launching hand-made rockets will inspire your camper to keep investigating beyond Earth’s surface.
Day 1 – Undergo astronaut training and design space suit to protect from impactors.
Day 2 – Blast off! Engineer rockets and simulate how different propellants affect the speed of a rocket.
Day 3 – What is an engineer? Build and test a satellite to orbit the Moon.
Day 4 – Trial by fire. Test capsule designs and be exposed to the dangers of excess UV radiation.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronaut’s train. Then, it is challenged to decode messages in Binary and engage in computer programing.
July 28-August 1
Cost | $299.95
Take part in this adventure and seek solutions to the obstacles of Earth-Moon space travel, engage in engineering design challenges, use robotic platforms, and delve into topics such as geology, rocketry, radiation, and mission training
Day 1 – Why go back to the Moon? Encounter binary code and build a scale model of Earth and the Moon.
Day 2 – Create and test a capsule and thermal tile design. Then, participate in a robotics design challenge.
Day 3 – Engineer multiple rockets and launch them! Then, build a model of Gateway.
Day 4 – Investigate what a crew would need to safely live on the Moon and construct habitat prototypes.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts’ train. Then, create and code robotic builds.
August 4-8
Cost | $350.00
All things robotics! Using a variety of robotic platforms, campers engage in immersive robotic challenges for space exploration. Through project-based robotic challenges, campers hone their skills in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and coding to successfully complete their exploration mission.
Day 1 – Discover how NASA uses coding in places you would never guess and learn about programming and computer language.
Day 2 – Participate in an ISS docking challenge and use block programing to navigate rovers to perform missions.
Day 3 – Program robot behaviors and reactions to traverse robotic challenges.
Day 4 – Join the Artemis Generation! Launch canister rockets and use the engineer design process to design a rover capable of navigating a Martian simulated surface.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, send color sensing robots on a Mars mission.
July 7-11
Cost | $299.95
Discover what it takes to solve problems related to space exploration. This Martian challenge will inspire your junior engineer to collaborate and find solutions to the complications of deep space settlement. Participants engage in engineering design challenges and use robotics.
Day 1 – Traverse Mars, its place in the solar system, its terrain and atmosphere. Then, create rockets and parachutes that we will put to the test
Day 2 – Design a habitat for astronauts using circuits and elements key to survival on the Martian surface.
Day 3 -Launch your rocket and design a protective covering for the landing on Mars, create space-related objects, and flight test a helicopter.
Day 4 – Program rovers and aid in Curiosity’s mission as it makes its way across the red planet.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, explore the mysteries of Mars with robotics and problem solving with your crew.
July 14-18
Cost | $299.95
Develop an understanding of space exploration challenges and beyond. Through hands-on engineering challenges, the use of robotics and creative designs all campers learn what it takes to go beyond Earth. Campers are inspired to find ways to take part in the mission to explore the solar system.
Day 1 – Assemble a crew and work together to achieve success on a mission just like astronauts, scientists, engineers, and mission control do. Then construct and launch a rocket.
Day 2 – Going into the vacuum of space comes with dangers. Test and develop materials capable of protecting your crew.
Day 3 – NASA’s technological advances impacted our everyday lives on Earth. Using the engineering process your engineers-in-training create inventions that might make everyday life here on Earth better or easier and build rovers that will play homage to the rovers created by JPL engineers.
Day 4 – Explore a 360-degree view of the modules and solve a mystery aboard the International Space Station.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Discover what astrobiologists do to search for life on exoplanets out of our solar system and practice EVA’s on the ISS.
July 21-25
Cost | $350.00
Get motivated to solve the problems of the future! Encounter a variety of robotics platforms to solve space exploration-themed challenges and learn how to successfully code and program various robotics in fun and engaging ways.
Day 1 – Discover and operate robotics in simulations from Earth onto the lunar surface.
Day 2 – Curious about coding? Code and simulate robotic missions aiding in NASA research.
Day 3 – Create a program of block coding to complete a robotic mission and safely advance a rover through a maze representing a path on another celestial body.
Day 4 – Gain experience with text programing and maneuver rovers in challenges.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, broaden understanding of rockets and extra vehicular activities.
July 28-August 1
Cost | $299.95
We are going! Understand through hands-on engineering challenges, simulating lunar habitats, use of robotics platforms, and creative engineering developments what it takes to go back to the Moon.
Day 1 – Complete missions in rocketry design, challenges and simulations. Learn budget management and design concepts for space exploration.
Day 2 -Broaden your understanding of rockets, including interaction with the laws of motion and basic orbital mechanics. Use the process of electrolysis to split water molecules to learn the importance of living on the Moon.
Day 3 – Solve a lunar mystery and learn how simulations help NASA plan for explorations into space and on the Moon through challenges. Complete your rocket design launch.
Day 4 – Explore the Moon by designing a lunar buggy and participating in robotics coding challenges.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, create a spectroscope and an origami Star shade.
August 4-8
Cost | $350.00
Through robotics platforms and engineering design challenges, campers can let their creativity flow. Campers are immersed in opportunities to develop solutions to space-related challenges to successfully accomplish their mission objectives.
Day 1 – Discover atmospheric science and make a planetary exploration balloon. Then, compete in a parachute challenge.
Day 2 – Use the engineering process to try and be the fastest to rescue an astronaut from a capsule at sea and Use 3-d model design to design a future space station.
Day 3 – Onward and upward. Launch a rocket and compete in an extravehicular activity challenge.
Day 4 – Houston, we have a problem! Compete in a communication tower challenge and use problem solving techniques to solve a series of ISS-related questions on why communication during space exploration can be difficult.
Day 5 – Enjoy a tram ride to Rocket Park & Building 9 to view the historic Saturn V and where past, present, and future NASA astronauts train. Then, deconstruct given materials to repurpose using the engineering process.
Join us at Space Center U!
HOURS TODAY
Have them apply to Rise! Rise is a program that offers students access to scholarships, mentorship, networking and career development opportunities, fostering their ability to address pressing global challenges.
Rise Initiative is a partner of the Conrad Challenge at Space Center Houston.
The All-American Rejects are throwing Space Center Houston’s Moon 2 Mars Festival into hyperdrive. Amp up your Space City Spring Break with us!
Access to this all-ages festival is included in general admission.
Space Center Houston will close at 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, April 29. Understand how this will impact your visit.
WEATHER ALERT
For the safety of our guests and staff, Space Center Houston is closed on Tuesday, January 21 and Wednesday, January 22 due to forecasted inclement weather.
We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to welcoming you soon! For questions or concerns, contact our Reservations team with your order number at 281.283.4755 or via email.
