Operation Comet is coming to St. Clair County Community College’s Challenger Learning Center. Operation Comet brings the wonder and joy of space exploration and fun to children as young as third grade. The existing Lunar Quest Mission is for students in grades five and up.

The Lunar Quest involves the deployment of a Lunar Exploration Rover to check out the surface of the moon. Explorers not only have fun learning about space but engage in critical thinking to solve problems. The new Operation Comet calls on the same critical decision-making, but with a scenario involving a comet headed toward Earth.

SC4 reports that both the Lunar Quest and Operation Comet meet national science standards for recommended grade levels and can be adjusted for older learners.

The new adventure for younger children is the result of requests from users. Kristin Copenhaver, Chief Marketing Officer at SC4 said,  “When we first launched the Challenger Learning Center in April 2022, there were many requests to bring in younger elementary groups. Many of those groups were able to take advantage of Experience Center programming, but Operation Comet helps us address the growing needs of STEM learning at this younger age level in additional new ways.”

Over 2500 people representing more than 100 communities, as tracked by zip code, have visited the Challenger Learning Center since its April 2022 launch.

To learn more or schedule a group mission, visit challenger.sc4.edu/visit/. Contact Challenger Learning Center with questions at experiencecenter@sc4.edu or (810) 989-5789.