C/A1C Daniel Cook, Cadet Aerospace Education Officer for Gainesville Composite Squadron, submitted a winning entry in the 2006 Aerospace Education Foundation Space Camp Scholarship contest. As one of ten winners nationally in his age group, his essay has earned him an all-expenses-paid trip to Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama. Cadet Cook earned the trip by writing an essay about the design necessities of a robot built to land on Pluto. He also designed a mission patch that incorporated space exploration with important elements of his life.

This marks the second essay contest Cadet Cook has won this year, having also earned a trip to the Astronaut Training Experience at Kennedy Space Center as a Grand Prize winner in a History Channel contest in March. This also marks the second year in a row that a Gainesville Composite Squadron cadet has won a Space Camp scholarship, with C/2d Lt Daniel Freeman attending last summer.

Cook’s scholarship includes tuition, round-trip transportation to Huntsville, meals, and a special Space Academy flight suit. Twelve year old Cadet Cook is home educated and aspires to be an astronaut.