Space Camp

[DanM]

Today I just returned from Space Camp's Advanced Space Academy program in Huntsville, Alabama. It was AWESOME! Some of my teammates got to SCUBA dive like astronauts do to train. I got to do EVAs in a harness trainer and a simulated Canada Arm. We flew a 6 hour shuttle mission in a simulator with a full cargo bay and sattelite.

Has anyone else been to this museum or camp?

I'll post photos later.

 

[Mantis]

Sounds like a load of fun. I've never been there as a camper but I've seen the facilities there at at the Cosmodrome Space Museum/Science Center is Laval, Quebec. I was really impressed with the equipment and the realism of the place. I wish they had that place when I was young enough to have attended!:thumbup:

 

[Nazban]

Ive been there once, in 2009 but that time is was in the Space Academy itself(too young for advanced space academy), i got to do the shuttle missions, and looots of other cool stuff(but no scuba )
still it was loads of fun!!

 

[DanM]

i got to do the shuttle missions, and looots of other cool stuff(but no scuba )
still it was loads of fun!!

I didn't get to SCUBA dive because they don't allow people with any history of asthma to dive. It doesn't really make sense because I dove before somewhere else, and my asthma is caused by pollen, so I probably have a lower chance of asthma problems while diving.

 

[Scruce]

I didn't get to SCUBA dive because they don't allow people with any history of asthma to dive. It doesn't really make sense because I dove before somewhere else, and my asthma is caused by pollen, so I probably have a lower chance of asthma problems while diving.

Better safe than sorry, as the old saying goes...

 

[DanM]

Better safe than sorry, as the old saying goes...

Of course. The major risk with diving and asthma is the bronchioli closing while at depth, which would cause the alveoli to expand on ascent resulting in barotrauma and embolism. However, I feel the reason the Space Camp people are so strict on dive rules is insurance and liability.

 

[Aeadar]

IMHO, as someone who also has a history of asthma, it is the individual, who knows their asthma better than anyone else, who is most qualified to judge what they can or cannot do, given their condition, how bad their asthma is, and how well their techniques for dealing with an attack work. More so than any doctor.

That being said, I fully understand the need for such a rule.

But back to Space Camp. I must say I'm a bit jealous; I'd love to go to Space Camp, but I'm a 55yr old man, and sitting around with what I assume would be mostly teens playing 'space' seems a bit 'unseemly'.:shifty:

Be nice if they had an, "Orbinauts Only Day".

Thinking about it though, I wonder: are there many adults there for themselves, or having brought their kids?

 

[DanM]

But back to Space Camp. I must say I'm a bit jealous; I'd love to go to Space Camp, but I'm a 55yr old man, and sitting around with what I assume would be mostly teens playing 'space' seems a bit 'unseemly'.:shifty:

http://www.spacecamp.com/adult

IMHO, as someone who also has a history of asthma, it is the individual, who knows their asthma better than anyone else, who is most qualified to judge what they can or cannot do, given their condition, how bad their asthma is, and how well their techniques for dealing with an attack work. More so than any doctor.

I totally agree with this, but the person should also be fully educated on potential risks. And employers should be allowed to deny people with medical conditions, even though I disagree with policies that stop me from living my dreams because of asthma.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

But back to Space Camp. I must say I'm a bit jealous; I'd love to go to Space Camp, but I'm a 55yr old man, and sitting around with what I assume would be mostly teens playing 'space' seems a bit 'unseemly'.:shifty:

Maybe a 55+ Space "Community" is in order?

 

[Ghostrider]

Maybe a 55+ Space "Community" is in order?

Absolutely. It's about time we stop letting those young whippersnappers have all the fun.

When I was their age, we used to climb to orbit on foot, waist-deep in the snow and uphill both ways and we didn't complain, dammit!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

A space camp for adults would probably be an interesting treat. There's the NASCAR experience for wannabe racers, there's all these cooking thingys for wannabe chefs.
It'd be a niche market, but if the price were right I'd do it.

 

[Ricovandijk]

Space Expo in the Netherlands and Belgium

I saw about the camps on the internet yesterday. If it was not 4000NM from home, I would visit it! looks great!

But I did visit the Noordwijk space expo in the Netherlands a couple of years ago.
http://www.spaceexpo.nl/

It is a great way to learn and see space history, mockup station modules, a full size LEM, etc. Also as a complete surprise to me, I got a guided tour through the ESA-ESTEC complex, I saw the satellite testing facility and the ISS mockup for Andre Kuiper's training.

I can recommend it to anyone with interest in spaceflight!

I also visited the Belgium counterpart last year, quite a contrast!
The 'Kuifje to space' style exhibition was a great disappointment. They made me feel uncomfortable, all explanation was in a way like: yea we do spaceflight,.. but because you are just a visitor you don't understand these things anyway so let's not bother you with any complex details.

Over there I did have one exiting experience tough, There was one big room which looks allot like the space camp location. There was a full size space shuttle mockup. After a couple of minutes sitting in the pilot seat and getting comforable with the buttons and switches around me, we were told to get out of the simulator! because it was still in use for astronaut training! sorry! LOL
http://www.eurospacecenter.be/

 

[DanM]

Here are only a few of my photos.

Rocket Park

Space Shuttle Pathfinder

Me using the Canadarm to repair the Westar Satellite

V-2

LM Mockup

Full Scale Saturn V replica

Orion replica

Orion interior

 

[Nazban]

Nice, i remember most of them, but i never saw the orion model and its interior
they must've put it up after i went, But nothing beats standing near the Full Scale Saturn V!!!

 

[ky]

They have the Replica,we have the original lol.

 

[Mojave]

**SCREAMS** Awesome!!!!

 

[DanM]

They have the Replica,we have the original lol.

They also have an original Saturn V there, it's laying down in a building right next to the upright replica. I tried to get photos of it, but instead I got pictures of parts of each stage, it's just so dang huge.

You can see photos of the restoration project here. http://www.spacecamp.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=106

---------- Post added at 10:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 AM ----------

Nice, i remember most of them, but i never saw the orion model and its interior
they must've put it up after i went

It was in the building with the Saturn V. Was that finished when you went there?

 

[Nazban]

It was in the building with the Saturn V. Was that finished when you went there?

I went in 2009 fall, the saturn V was there(unforgettable!!), but we just saw the ares rockets there, there was a capsule mockup but just on the showcase, we werent allowed inside it
i got a pic of my team in the building with the Saturn V(kept forgetting its name), ill try and upload it later

 

[DanM]

If anyone is curious what the EMU I'm wearing in the Canadarm photo was made from, it was white rubber rain boots, a white fabric jumpsuit with elastic cuffs, an American Football helmet without the mask (and covered in fabric with a plexiglass faceplate added), wool inner gloves, the the outer gloves were LaCrosse gloves.

Nazban, my team had a photo in the same place. When I went to Academy and Camp, we were in front of Pathfinder.

 

[Arrowstar]

DanM: Hello from Huntsville! I'm currently interning at NASA Marshall this summer and I'm also a Space Camp ASA alum. The 6 hour extended mission was easily my favorite part of the week... if I recall correctly I died of a simulated heart attack while on orbit.

I was just over at the US Space and Rocket Center not too long ago for a visit to the IMAX there. It brought back lots of nice memories. Keep all the photos you took, they're one of a kind.