Space Camp — March 2017
| Sarah arranged for Robert to go to Space Camp for Spring Break this year. She, unfortunately, had to work. I took the week off; Robert and I drove down Saturday and checked out the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Sunday before registration/orientation. On the trip down, we listened to Moon over Morocco, a 10 hour radio serial. That turned out to be just the right length (a good idea? still an open question). |
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| While it was a long drive, it was not bad and we had a good time (clearly) checking out the museum and rocket center. They have rockets (lots of rockets), training and mock capsules from Apollo and Mercury. Real capsules also, but they are on display, not something you can climb into. |
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| But the reason we were in Huntsville was Space Camp. We checked in: that involved getting a flight suit, finding a bunk, and making the bed. After that, we had a bit more time to wander the grounds before orientation. The first part of orientation was peeling the parents away from the kids and assuring us they were in good hands. |
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| After that clear dismissal, I headed back to the hotel, let Sarah know all was well and plotted my next stop for the week. The next day, I headed to the Bankhead National Forest a bit further west from Huntsville. Bankhead is home to the Sipsey River and the Sipsey River Wilderness Area. The Sipsey is the only national Wild and Scenic River in Alabama. It was low, but pretty. I managed to paddle a bit over half a mile upstream from the take out (route 33 bridge) before getting to a spot I didn't want to have to walk around. |
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| Meanwhile, Robert was working on his training. The had several activities: group construction in the neutral buoyancy tank, for example. The advanced Space Academy folks take an intro to SCUBA and then do some mock repairs on the space station in the training tank. Robert said it was pretty weird to swim around above the superstructure for that training. |
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They also worked on alternative mission patches and planned for their two missions: a trip to the moon base in the new Orion capsule and a Space Shuttle mission to the ISS. While he was hard at work, I returned to the Sipsey the next day. This time I paddled up from the put in (Sipsey River picnic area on Cranal Road). About a half up upstream, there is a confluence; I got about another quarter to third of a mile up each of those before deciding to turn back. It really is a pretty spot. |
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| I didn't realize how much work they were doing until we picked up Robert and he told us about the daily exercises. That's how they started every day. But they also were able to go on all the rides at the rocket center, like the launch simulator (in the background) and G-Force spinner. |
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The next day, I moved on to Tuscumbria and checked out Spring Park there. They claim the waterfall in the background is the largest man made, natural stone waterfall. The park was the backdrop for Jimmy Carter's reelection campaign kick off. Meanwhile, Robert was launching rockets and building and testing heat shield designs for reentry. Unfortunately, his group discovered their heat shield worked more as an oven — the design needs work. |
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| The next day (Thursday, the last full day of Space Camp), I headed back to Huntsville after checking out a couple of the TVA's dams on the Tennessee River. I walked around Monte Sano state park; another pretty place in Alabama. I don't know the names of these pretty little creeks. |
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Meanwhile, Robert was in the training chair. It spins in all 3 directions and is used to train astronauts in handling spinning capsules. Robert said (we're not sure we believe him) that it really doesn't make you sick since it never spins the same direction twice in a row. In addition to the rocketry, heat shield design, in water construction and other activities, Robert had two missions: On the first, he was LMS 5, Lunar Mission Specialist 5 on a mission to the moon using the new Orion capsule. On that mission, he had an EVA to replace the oxygen and nitrogen tanks and repair the wiring on the rover followed by a visit to the moon base (which may be a jumping off point for missions to Mars). |
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On the second mission he was GNC for a Space Shuttle mission to the ISS. GNC stands for Guidance, Navigation and Control. It's a mission control position that, among other things, required him to keep the crew aware of their altitude and weather for take off and as they came in for a landing. Sarah flew down Thursday night and we recreated some of the Robert's pre-camp pictures before it was time for the graduation ceremony. |
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| The trainees paraded in for the ceremony and each group was presented to the rest of the camp and audience. The height of the ceremony was the ritual ripping off of the name badge and putting it back on right side up — trainees wear their badges upside down, graduates, right side up. |
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Afterwards, Robert showed us his favorite parts of the rocket center before we collected his belongings and headed back towards Alexandria. Robert had a great time (and I enjoyed my time off). He'd love to go back — I don't know that we'll be able to swing it again, but it's highly recommended by Robert, his parents and everyone we've talked to who has attended. It was nice of them to send along this press release for the local paper, but I think we'll skip that. |
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Vacation notes:
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