Florida Scouts converge at AFTAC to earn Nuclear Science Merit Badge

Members of the Air Force Technical Applications Center hosted an annual workshop for area Boy Scouts Oct. 24 in an effort to help them earn the Nuclear Science Merit Badge.

Forty-four scouts from Orange, Indian River and Brevard counties - 11 troops in all - traveled to Patrick AFB to learn about the Department of Defense's sole nuclear treaty monitoring center and listen to center volunteers talk about nuclear science.

The boys began the morning in a classroom setting, where they received a welcome briefing from Lt. Col. Suzanna McNabb, deputy of AFTAC's nuclear sciences division, and an introduction to what a nuclear treaty monitoring center actually does.  After the briefing and a question-and-answer session, the boys began constructing 3-D models of elements and isotopes using gummy bears; learning the nuclear fission process; and creating cloud chambers out of petri dishes.
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