NASA-JPL scientists bring outer space to Santa Barbara County campers

KCBX | By Tom Wilmer

Published August 1, 2016 at 3:08 PM PDT

Join correspondent Tom Wilmer reporting from St. Vincent de Paul’s summer camp, Circle V Ranch Camp located just across the road from the entry to Santa Barbara County’s Lake Cachuma Park.

Circle V Ranch Camp is dedicated to serving kids from the California Central Coast and the greater Los Angeles area.

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratories scientist, Tom Nolan was a camper at Circle V back in the early 1960s and he created Space Week as his way of instilling a passion for science among the campers.

Nolan was on hand along with a cadre of science educators, and associates from NASA JPL, sharing their scientific research and exploration of the universe with the hands-on science experiments.

The campers learned about the Mars rovers and robots, they built and launched their own rockets and much more.

Come along for a most memorable day at Circle V Ranch Camp–Space Camp that is, where we visit with Nolan and his fellow scientists.

Founded in 1945 by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Council of Los Angeles, the Circle V Ranch camp is celebrating its 71^st Anniversary.

Since 1990, the camp has been tucked in a dreamy canyon just a mile up a winding gravel road just off Highway 145, close to the Lake Cachuma Park entrance in Santa Barbara County.