vintage Space Camp memorabilia!

The place where campers hang out after a long day in the sims.

Moderator: Vincent

User avatar
gt0163c
Pathfinder
Pathfinder
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:17 pm
Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Post by gt0163c »

I just took a look at the 1989 pictures. I was there in the late summer for Level I. In picture #9, the counselors in front of the MAT, the counselor on the right (woman with the long, curly brown hair), I'm pretty sure is Tammy (I think that was her name). She was my day counselor when I was here. She was also there in '91 when I went back for Level II.

Also, in the caption for your Level II in Feb of '90, you ask if they still have different color flight suits. They do not. They had them in '91 but by summer of '92 everyone was in the light/powder blue flight suits with the multicolored ones relegated to use in the lake over at AC.
Level I Aug '89-Rockwell
Level II Aug '91-Lockheed Engineering
Level II Aug '92-Lockheed Aerospace-Right Stuff Award
Adult ASA Sept '07-Marshall MS
Adult ASA Train With an Astronaut-Oct '15-Discovery-Commander's Cup, Challenger Award, Alumni Coin
b52murph
Camper
Camper
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:36 am
Location: Kirtland AFB, NM

Post by b52murph »

Hotdog wrote:Wow! Those pics brought back lots of memories! Especially the '89 pics since that's when I was there, staying in the new Hab. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Hotdog. Your photos confirmed some of mine--the ones I have from '89 that say 'MSFC?' are clearly the same thing as yours (much better IMHO), for what you call a Space Station Module. Appreciate the memory refresh...
Jordan "b52murph" Murphy
Camp I, April 1986; Camp, April 1987
Academy I, April 1988; Academy I, April 1989
Academy II, Feb 1990; Aviation Challenge, Jun 1990
CastAway
Top Gun
Top Gun
Posts: 574
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2003 10:32 pm
Contact:

Post by CastAway »

Very cool photos! That's a piece of Camp history I have never known... weird to think that camp is 5, almost 6 years older than I am!
The less time spent in Orion Bay, the better.
b52murph
Camper
Camper
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Mar 17, 2007 2:36 am
Location: Kirtland AFB, NM

Post by b52murph »

MNathaniel wrote:Very cool photos! That's a piece of Camp history I have never known... weird to think that camp is 5, almost 6 years older than I am!
Glad to be of service...it's been fun pulling these out and scanning them. Some I hadn't seen in a long time. 1987's now posted...lots of shots in the Bubble!
Jordan "b52murph" Murphy
Camp I, April 1986; Camp, April 1987
Academy I, April 1988; Academy I, April 1989
Academy II, Feb 1990; Aviation Challenge, Jun 1990
CastAway
Top Gun
Top Gun
Posts: 574
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2003 10:32 pm
Contact:

Post by CastAway »

Huh... is the Bubble's basement now the Hab 2 basement? It looks like it...
The less time spent in Orion Bay, the better.
User avatar
Joker
Counselor
Counselor
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat May 10, 2003 12:01 am
Location: Your six. Alpha Whiskey.

Post by Joker »

MNathaniel wrote:Huh... is the Bubble's basement now the Hab 2 basement? It looks like it...
Um. Yes. There's actually a whole thread about this sort of thing around here somewhere.

And the Bubble is now....the Bubble at AC.

And I was in it when it was the NASA pavilion at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN.
U.S. Space Camp, May 1985
Aviation Challenge Staff, 1996-1997
"Livin' in fear's just another way of dyin' before your time." -- Drive-By Truckers
CastAway
Top Gun
Top Gun
Posts: 574
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2003 10:32 pm
Contact:

Post by CastAway »

Huh, well that's cool. That's one moving bubble.
The less time spent in Orion Bay, the better.
User avatar
Hotdog
Top Gun
Top Gun
Posts: 902
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:11 am
Location: Rocket City, USA

Post by Hotdog »

b52murph wrote:
Glad to be of service...it's been fun pulling these out and scanning them. Some I hadn't seen in a long time. 1987's now posted...lots of shots in the Bubble!
Great shots! The Pathfinder did look like it was just dumped there. My photos from 1987 are from a school field trip from April/May of that year, about the same time you were there.
4-time Space Camp/Academy alumni
1989, 1991*, 1992, 1994
*Right Stuff Award Winner
des
Pathfinder
Pathfinder
Posts: 234
Joined: Sat Feb 17, 2007 2:31 am
Location: New Mexico

Post by des »

Your comment on which color suits people wore reminds me of an observation I kept making over and over again at SC, and that was how clothes really do make the man (or woman) there. I don't know if it is still like this, but you could tell *exactly* what position the staff was by their outfits. The suits and ties folks were upper management types. Even janitors and cafeteria people had various outfits. I found it actually a little humorous.

--des
gt0163c wrote: Also, in the caption for your Level II in Feb of '90, you ask if they still have different color flight suits. They do not. They had them in '91 but by summer of '92 everyone was in the light/powder blue flight suits with the multicolored ones relegated to use in the lake over at AC.
herkp
Junior Camper
Junior Camper
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:25 pm

Awesome Site!

Post by herkp »

I just stumbled across this site, this is pretty cool! I was a counselor from 1984-1986 in the Level II SC. In fact, my group started Level II and ran the first Camp through (a lot of growing pains).

Got tons of pics of camp sessions, including a lot of "candid" shots of the counselors having fun after the campers were in bed; we did some crazy stuff with the rockets...

I'm really looking forward to browsing through the past at Space Camp, haven't thought much about it in years...
Space Camp Level II Counselor from 1984-1986
Pete Conrad Fan
Camper
Camper
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:39 pm
Location: Ocala, Gainesville, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Lake City, Orlando, FL
Contact:

Post by Pete Conrad Fan »

Welcome! Would love to hear some stories from ya!
-Sarah

Space Academy Level I 9/1990 - BDM
Aviation Challenge Basic 6/1991 - F-16 Falcons, "Tigger", Red Flag Award
Alumni Space Academy 8/2007 - Columbia
SpaceCanada
HabForum Junkie
HabForum Junkie
Posts: 2125
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:07 pm
Location: Canada

Post by SpaceCanada »

Oh yes, stories! Do tell...
And post some scans of those photos and/or other memorabelia. :)
- Jennifer -
Youth ASA 6-Day 1998 1999
Adult ASA 8-Day 2004; Alumni 2007, CSC 2013, 2015, 2017
herkp
Junior Camper
Junior Camper
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 10:25 pm

Post by herkp »

Well, I'll try to find the pictures! Just moved and I may have to dig through boxes, but I've got loads of pics from the earlier days when both Level I and II were in the bubble. Level II equipment was walled off on the west end, where we had the shuttle mockup and the "cherry picker" crane arm with the MMU attached to the end of it. Also had the "control room" where the campers read scripts into the headsets and watched a canned video of the mission.

It's funny now to think of how antiquated our techniques and experiments were. Two come to mind: the $3000 laser (!) that we used in some mirror reflecting experiment that escapes me why we did it, and the video of the shuttle final approach and touchdown (which was actually filmed at Huntsville International airport by one of the Channel 19 weathermen in a Cessna or helicopter, I can't remember.)

I worked Level II off-and-on from 84-86, including the first-ever "adult camp" and a very small role in the Space Camp movie. I operated the cherry picker (not on camera) and then was on camera for the scene with Kate Capshaw and Lea Thompson in front of the spinning chair (it's name is lost in my memory). We were actually operating the chair, not Lea, although the movie makes it look like she was trying to control it with the joystick.

I went from Space Camp to the Air Force, and I'm still flying C-130 Hercules aircraft today. A highlight for me was taking my 3 year old son to the Space and Rocket Center a few years ago and showing him all the stuff I used to teach. Although, the Space Camp area is almost unrecognizable now!

I have to find those pictures, including my cousin lifting his shirt to show the bruise where an Estes Saturn V smacked him right after liftoff, the rocket impaled in the roof of the bubble, the candid shots of the counselors, etc.

Great stuff...
Space Camp Level II Counselor from 1984-1986
User avatar
MisplacedTexan
Junior Camper
Junior Camper
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:09 pm
Location: Sherman, Tx

Post by MisplacedTexan »

That was the "Multi Axis Trainer" you were thinking about. I remember our counselor rolled his eyes, sighed, and said, "Before you even ask the question, no, there isn't a joystick, the one in the movie was just a prop and didn't do anything." I have a funny feeling that wasn't the first time he had made that particular comment before loading up a bunch of kids on the MAT. :)
SA1 - 12/24-12/29 1989 - Thiokol - MS1
SpaceCanada
HabForum Junkie
HabForum Junkie
Posts: 2125
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:07 pm
Location: Canada

Post by SpaceCanada »

If I recall correctly, on one of the MATs, I think you can still see the holes where the joystick contraption used to be attached. I could be wrong. I never saw it last time I was there.
- Jennifer -
Youth ASA 6-Day 1998 1999
Adult ASA 8-Day 2004; Alumni 2007, CSC 2013, 2015, 2017
User avatar
gt0163c
Pathfinder
Pathfinder
Posts: 302
Joined: Mon Dec 11, 2006 12:17 pm
Location: Fort Worth, Texas

Post by gt0163c »

SpaceCanada wrote:If I recall correctly, on one of the MATs, I think you can still see the holes where the joystick contraption used to be attached. I could be wrong.
Yeah, you can still see the holes on the "screen used" MAT. It was pointed out to us while I was at Adult ASA last fall. Although I think that was the MAT that wasn't being used due to needing maintenance.
Level I Aug '89-Rockwell
Level II Aug '91-Lockheed Engineering
Level II Aug '92-Lockheed Aerospace-Right Stuff Award
Adult ASA Sept '07-Marshall MS
Adult ASA Train With an Astronaut-Oct '15-Discovery-Commander's Cup, Challenger Award, Alumni Coin
User avatar
Boomerang
Counselor
Counselor
Posts: 6696
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2001 8:36 pm
Location: Elizabethtown Kentucky

Post by Boomerang »

Actually any MAT that goes back to atleast 1991 would have holes for the piece that was in front of the person. In 1991 they had 2 MAT's when i was there though neither had a joystick on them at that point that metal for lack of a better wors shelf was there in front of the person. It served no purpose but if you look at my 1991 pictures on the hab 1 photo portal you can see it. So just because an mat has hioles for that doesnt make it the one in the movie there were atleast two MAT's that had that. By 1993 when i returned neither had those on them anymore.
Jason original callsign Loverboy
SC 1991
SA Level 1 1993
AC Intermediate 1996
ASA 1998
Corporate Space Camp 2005
AC Counselor Summer 07 callsign Boomerang
Adult Alumni Camp 2007
Adult Alumni Camp 2008
Official Space Camp Ambassador
User avatar
MisplacedTexan
Junior Camper
Junior Camper
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:09 pm
Location: Sherman, Tx

Post by MisplacedTexan »

I only recall one MAT when I was there in '89. Dunno if it had holes in the shelf or not, but I do remember the shelf in the picture. I did notice that the newer MAT doesn't have the shelf at all - makes me curious whether or not the one on the old MAT was fabricated just to hold the joystick.
SA1 - 12/24-12/29 1989 - Thiokol - MS1
User avatar
Boomerang
Counselor
Counselor
Posts: 6696
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2001 8:36 pm
Location: Elizabethtown Kentucky

Post by Boomerang »

I think the holes they are referring to are in the frame of the ring where the passenger sits. As i said by 1991 they had atleast 2 MAT's i know there were 2 on the floor. Both had a shelf but no joystick on them. I don't know about the other one but ours looked like it had a control panel of buttons i assume suimilar to the shuttle on it. We didnt do anything with it however it was just there.
Jason original callsign Loverboy
SC 1991
SA Level 1 1993
AC Intermediate 1996
ASA 1998
Corporate Space Camp 2005
AC Counselor Summer 07 callsign Boomerang
Adult Alumni Camp 2007
Adult Alumni Camp 2008
Official Space Camp Ambassador
User avatar
712
Junior Camper
Junior Camper
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2005 9:21 pm

Post by 712 »

Boomerang wrote:I think the holes they are referring to are in the frame of the ring where the passenger sits. As i said by 1991 they had atleast 2 MAT's i know there were 2 on the floor. Both had a shelf but no joystick on them. I don't know about the other one but ours looked like it had a control panel of buttons i assume suimilar to the shuttle on it. We didnt do anything with it however it was just there.
By the summer of 1992 neither had the shelf any longer, removed because they were just in the way.
Space Camp I - Neptune - 1984
Space Academy Level I Sims Counselor - 1992
Space Academy Level I Team Leader - 1993-94
Lead, Supervisor, Manager - 1994-21st Century
Post Reply