Postby blachwk » Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:46 am
It is hard to believe that a week ago at this time we were in Huntsville as part of Team Magellan for the 3 day Adult Space Academy. How time flies when you are there! Our team won the 'Outstanding Team' patch. Another adult team won the 'Commander's Cup' patch which was for the best missions. As part of the weekend itinerary at camp, we did do the team photo, Marshall tour, created and tested thermal protection, rode the MAT, road the 1/6 chair, created and launched model rockets, toured the museum and Davidson Center, and had 2 - 1 hour missions. After the teams broke out in to smaller groups and making the thermal protection, our mini group of 4 won for the best thermal protection which left our egg-stronaut cold to the touch. The 2 - 1 hour missions included 1 Space Shuttle mission and 1 Orion and Lunar mission. We spent some time in Area 51 and completed those activities in 'record time' the trainers said and were trying to come up with other things for us to do while the other teams were working on their activities. At check in, we were disappointed when we were issued 'Aviation Challenge - Pilot/Copilot' ID tags with our names on them. None of the Adult Space Academy teams for the weekend had 'Space Academy' name tags. Having to wear a wristband for family camp in 2017 and with this being our first time doing Adult Academy, we were disappointed. A good majority of the rockets in the rocket park were gone being re-painted but it really did not matter for we really were not outside much in that area anyway. I created a photo sharing account for our team to swap photos vs sending them via email. I also obtained everyone's contact information and shared that with the team so we can continue to stay in touch. My wife and I had a great time and are looking forward to coming back. Most of our teammates have already started to discuss a time on when we can return back as a team via Advanced Adult Space Academy or via a Corporate Camp scenario.
Here are some items I thought would be worth mentioning since my last time in Huntsville (2017) for Family Space Camp.
- No Team Patch design was done for the Adult Space Academy program over the weekend. Members of my team did want to create a patch, so I sketched out some ideas and incorporated the Orion capsule, a ship, and went with a square patch design. Ironically enough after talking to some teammates and showing the work off, I learned that it looked pretty close to the actual STS 122 patch. We plan on having actual patches made up for the team.
- Velcro name tags stayed on our flight suits the 'correct side up'. They did not pull off the name tags, flip them, and put back on at graduation. Crew trainers told us this is no longer being done?
- Adult Space Academy team members and Family Space Camp team members over the weekend were issued the same red 'Space Camp' shirts. During my previous experience with Family Space Camp, we were issued white shirts with 'Family Camp' on them and ASA and AASA teams had different colored shirts and their appropriate logos.
- We were issued Space Academy log books. We did not really use them as a team as part of the weekend program, but I really appreciate getting it and I am currently reading through the material.
- Wings - Our Wings pin has an Orion Capsule in the shield area. It reminds me of the Pathfinder wings (shuttle in the shield). No words are on this set of wings. So fellow collectors out there, it is one more thing to look for and add to the collection.
- Crew trainers did not have a 'speech' prepared at graduation. A leader and alumni spoke, read off the team names, and members of the teams and presented each person with the graduation packet, took a photo, and the person walked off the stage. Graduation went by fairly quickly.
- There is an Apollo exhibit in the main museum and is nicely setup.
- The orange and white parachutes that were hanging up in the Davidson Center have been taken down. Not sure if this is something that was taken down to clean and restore or will be permanently gone.