When anyone asks if junior Tygget Vaillancourt has an interest in space, he says an interest is a bit of an understatement — he’s obsessed.

Vaillancourt said space exploration interests him the most, and he likes to learn about the different areas of space in many different ways.

“I follow up with NASA and SpaceX (a private spaceflight company) and everything they do,” Vaillancourt said. “I write stories about space, draw space pictures and I still play that space game.”

Vaillancourt said he enjoys playing space simulation games because they allow him to experience the universe in a new way.

“I’ve always liked space, but I guess my interest started back in junior high when a friend of mine recommended a game to me where you build spacecrafts, launch them and try not to explode,” Vaillancourt said.

Junior Eric Manuel said he started playing space video games with Vaillancourt about a year-and-a-half ago.

“One (space video game) is called Space Engineers. It’s a video game where you essentially build things in space. It incorporates physics, mechanics. Another one is Purple Space Program, where you build rockets,” Manuel said.

Vaillancourt said although he had an interest in space because of the game, his obsession did not begin until one day in science class.

“It really wasn’t until I saw the movie ‘Apollo 13’ in science class where I went ‘wow, space stuff is awesome,’” Vaillancourt said.

Mary Wineberg, Vaillancourt’s junior high science teacher, said she played ‘Apollo 13’ when Vaillancourt was in her class to teach her students about the history of the study of space.

“I remember Tygget fondly,” Wineberg said. “I am happy to hear that something from science inspired him. I don’t recall his fascination with space, but I am not surprised by it either.”

Manuel said he enjoys playing space video games with Vaillancourt because of their shared interest.

“We started playing video games together because we both have a fascination with space, and games of that nature are more fun to play with others,” Manuel said.

Vaillancourt said he plans to pursue a career related to the study of space.

“One of the careers I’ve been looking at is aerospace engineering, and I’ve been thinking of using that to get a job at SpaceX,”  Vaillancourt said.

Vaillancourt said chose his role models — who are all involved in the space exploration industry — because of what they’ve contributed to the field.

“I obviously look up to Neil Armstrong and also Elon Musk; he owns SpaceX,” Vaillancourt said. “Also, Chris Hadfield —  he went on two space shuttle missions and one long-term flight to the international space station.”