Random Facts

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 4:19 pm

While working on my Space Camp scrapbook I thought of something that wouldmake both a good conversation piece and would help me add flare to my scrapbook.

Thus, I would like everone, counsellors included - as you may know things we trainees don't, to post random facts about US Space Camp, the organisation, the simulators, the facilities, the staff, anything that may prove humourous, insightful, or may just be a random fact...

Oh, and please post facts and bits of information that maybe everyone already knows. You never know, some people (i.e. ME!) can forget the small details of things and want to know them... so please help us out.

To get everyone started, here are some I can think of:
(correct me where I am wrong!)

The letters on the compartments in mid-deck are labelled in alphabetical order such that no two letters rhyme with each other.

The Enterprise orbiter is only *is it one metre or one foot??* shorter than the real thing.

US Space Camp simulation software is made by Binary Star, the company that makes real simulation software for NASA.

The UAT was modelled after the original WETF at Marshall Space Flight Centre.

Habitat I has urinals in the girls' toilet - what's up with that? (Yes, I checked the sign on the door to make sure I wasn't lost!)
...

Please think of some more. Anything and everything really... facts of all kinds!

spacy chick · Post by **spacy chick** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:54 pm

um i'm sure everyone has heard this but what i've been told a few times at camp (but not every time) about the saturn v(the one that is in the rocket park on its side) is that von braun was on tour with it and when he got to huntsville he wanted it to stay here but other people higher up didn't want it to so the night b/f it was supposed to roll out von b and a few other people went out and messed with the stand it is on so that it couldnt be moved....

honestly i have no idea if it's true but if you look by the rocket it says something about being on loan from the smithsonian...

anyone know if it's true???

and if i heard correctly the uat was not modeled after the one at marshall

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:27 pm

It was modelled after the original neutral buoyancy facilities. You can see a model of the original one, which I believe is the WETF in the museum. It is round with portholes just like the UAT. I will have to chek my notes. I may even have the PowerPoint presentation somewhere...

I have not heard the story about the Saturn V before, but I did remember that it, and several other items, are on loan from the Smithsonian.

The reason why there is a Skylab II solar array in the USSRC is because the Smithsonian was going to throw it out! Irene (the museum curator) was in shock at the thought so she obtained it from them and put it on display in the museum... well... most of it...

In the Apollo wall exhibit for Apollo 11 you will see three sets of plaster hands. The top set belongs to Neil Armstrong. The lower left set belongs to Buzz Aldrin, and the lower right set belongs to Michael Collins. If you look really closely at Collins' hands you will see that he is wearing his wedding ring, while the other astronauts were not. There was a big arguement between NASA and Collins to get him to take his ring off, but he never did.

Also, the Apollo astronauts had to sign US customs forms when they returned from the Moon as if they left the country.

Also, the F-18 on display at Aviation Challenge was used in the film 'Top Gun', or so I was told in 1998.

HurricaneErin · Post by **HurricaneErin** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:51 pm

The girls bathrooms have urinals so they can be used as boys bathrooms if need be. This is just a quess, I'm not quite sure why they are there. But I know that the girls florr that I lived on in my dorm had urinals because it used to be a boys bathroom and/or it ever became a boys floor. And Im guessing thats the same reason as the urinals in the girls bathroom at camp.

coffeediver · Post by **coffeediver** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:32 pm

The UAT is the shape it is because it's the best for the space allowed and offers less complicated construction. It has nothing to do with the WETF. They both are that way because it makes good engineering sense. The depth of the UAT is 24' because at 34' (fresh) you gain an extra atmosphere of pressure and by limiting the depth of it, you limit the possibility of any deco related issues.

The "Dr. Von B sabotaged it" story is just that, a story. Depending on who told you the story, it goes they deflated the tires to keep it from being moved. Funny, ever look at the tires? They're solid rubber.

spacy chick · Post by **spacy chick** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:17 pm

Like i said, i didn't know if it was true or not AND i didn't say what they did the the rocket...i've never heard about them deflating tires...and what coffeediver said about the uat is a more, in-depth, version of what i heard about it

MAYTAG · Post by **MAYTAG** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:20 pm

It's the F-14 at AC that was in Top Gun, it was in another movie too but i don't remember what it was, AC doesn't have an F/A-18, but my guess is that they would love to have one

MAYTAG · Post by **MAYTAG** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 8:23 pm

and another one, the Helo-Dunker that is at AC is actually the first one that was made for the Navy, when they got a new this one came to AC\

of forgot, it was actually made out of old pipe sections because they couldn't think of anything else to make it from

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:04 am

Thanks for all the information everyone! Keep it coming...

The G-Force 'centrifuge' ride is made from a ring of the Saturn V.

Does anyone know the facts about Space Shot - how fast it throws you into the air, how high you go, how much 'weightlessness' time you get, etc?

The vertical Saturn V at the USSRC is only a replica.

Canada is the leading country in hydroponics technology.

The Olympus Mons climbing wall routes get progressively more difficult as you go from left to right.

Space Dots/Dippin Dots must be chilled using dry ice - a regular freezer is not cold enough.

tennisrox014 · Post by **tennisrox014** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:47 pm

The F-4 at AC is the only plane to have an actual kill.

the barney chair (that chair that spins you around and makes you dizzy) is the chair they used in pensecola at navy pilot training.

coffeediver · Post by **coffeediver** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:29 pm

The G-Force 'centrifuge' ride is made from a ring of the Saturn V.

Well, the old centrifuge (that now rests in the parking lot near HR) was built from part of the Saturn V, not G-Force.

Does anyone know the facts about Space Shot - how fast it throws you into the air, how high you go, how much 'weightlessness' time you get, etc?

What we former Sim-ops used to say when we were bored went something like this:

"0-45 in less than a second at 4Gs, 180' feet straight up, only to be forced back down to earth by air at negative 1G. Heads back against the head rest. Arms and legs straight out in front of you, and enjoy... your... flight."

Microgravity time is around 2-3 seconds, depending on how hard the old girl is kicking.

The Olympus Mons climbing wall routes get progressively more difficult as you go from left to right.

Partially right. 1 is the easiest, but there is little difference in 2-6. 7-9 are so-so at best, 10-12 used to be a whole lot harder back in my Sim-op days.

Space Nerd · Post by **Space Nerd** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:41 pm

A fact that I, as a musician, always found particularly interesting is that the Lunar Rovers wheels are made of E key piano wire.

MAYTAG · Post by **MAYTAG** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:43 pm

that is a new one that is really cool

MAYTAG · Post by **MAYTAG** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:45 pm

the centrafuge at AC is origionally from a european company that tried to do something like spacecamp

i think it was italy but im not too sure about that

Space Nerd · Post by **Space Nerd** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:15 pm

The skull and crossbones of the Jolly Rogers Squadron
<-------------------------

Actually exist! They are the bones of Ens. Jack Earnie whos last words as his plane was going down over Okinawa were "remember me with The Jolly Rogers." The skull and crossbones are encased and travel with the Jolly Rogers wherever they go.

Edit: I should mention that the skull and crossbones was the ensignia before Jack Earnie died but his bones were used in honor of his dedication to the Jolly Rogers.

meg · Post by **meg** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:19 pm

creeeeeeeeeeepy...

Space Nerd · Post by **Space Nerd** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:28 pm

I think its cool. I'd hate to be the Bones Control Officer though (yes, he actually exists).

tennisrox014 · Post by **tennisrox014** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:59 pm

MAYTAG wrote:the centrafuge at AC is origionally from a european company that tried to do something like spacecamp

i think it was italy but im not too sure about that

It's France. they tried to open a space camp france but got shut down because they used the space camp logo without permission.

that centrifuge was actually used to train French pilots which is why all the writing inside is in french.

tennisrox014 · Post by **tennisrox014** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 12:07 am

the reason the F-111 at AC's windows are painted is because there was a cockpit fire.

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 9:45 am

The Saturn V belongs to the Smithsonian, which wanted it back at one point. A campaign by the Sprocket Center had it declared as a landmark, thus preventing it's removal.

Pathfinder's External Tank is real (the first one ever made?), though it obviously never flew.

The SRBs on Pathfinder were real and had flown at one point until NASA needed them... removing them from the USSRC was cheaper than building new ones. The bell at the bottom of the starboard booster is real.

The movie Space Camp was filmed at the USSRC.