2019?

[majtom7]

I am going to go on a wee bit of a rant here. The adult camp page talks about learning what it takes to be an astronaut. Yet can you really do that in a one hour mission? That's barely enough time for a launch and landing, much less on orbit operations. The last time I participated in a one hour shuttle mission, the mission specialists started outside the orbiter due to the time crunch. The commander and pilot apparently lacked timelines which is unrealistic. Mission control positions had to relate information to the astronauts yet what if com is lost? To me, the primary reason for attending an adult camp is participating in realistic integrated sims and I feel that that's impossible in a one hour mission. I know that perhaps I should express this opinion to camp management yet I feel that if they don't realize that this is a problem already then they never will. Adult camps are probably their lowest priority but for us, it's the only game in town.

Having said that... I scrolled to the bottom of the adult camp page and got a chuckle out of this.

*While we make every effort to ensure that camp areas such as our Habitats and Camp Galley are a nut-free environment, we cannot guarantee the total absence of nut products on our premises.

I don't think that I've ever been to a camp that was nut-free There's one in every crowd.

[SpaceCanada]

How did the weekend go?

[p51]

I am going to go on a wee bit of a rant here. The adult camp page talks about learning what it takes to be an astronaut. Yet can you really do that in a one hour mission? That's barely enough time for a launch and landing, much less on orbit operations. The last time I participated in a one hour shuttle mission, the mission specialists started outside the orbiter due to the time crunch. The commander and pilot apparently lacked timelines which is unrealistic. Mission control positions had to relate information to the astronauts yet what if com is lost? To me, the primary reason for attending an adult camp is participating in realistic integrated sims and I feel that that's impossible in a one hour mission. I know that perhaps I should express this opinion to camp management yet I feel that if they don't realize that this is a problem already then they never will. Adult camps are probably their lowest priority but for us, it's the only game in town.

I think you see things with a different set of eyes than many (if not most) of the 'normal' adult camp attendees.
Yes, many of us here on the forum would likely rather have lots of sims and realistic ones at that, but I think generally, the average person who attends loves the model rockets, zip line and all the extra stuff that I (and likely you) could do without.
Many of the people I've been on teams with at SC were just fine with the non-sim stuff that I could have done without.
What's the return rate for adult campers? Less than 5% I'd bet?
I'm not saying you're wrong as I agree with all the quoted stuff above. But I wouldn't imagine that's SC's target market for the adults who show up.

[majtom7]

What's the return rate for adult campers? Less than 5% I'd bet?

That's an interesting question. I wonder if they even track those kinds of stats for all camps, not just adult.

But I wouldn't imagine that's SC's target market for the adults who show up.

That's another interesting question. What, if any, is their targeted adult audience?
LOL These are some things to ask the next time I'm in a meeting with Dr. Barnhart, if and when that ever happens again.

[SpaceCanada]

Inquiring minds want to know: how was camp?!?

[blachwk]

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.

[Hotdog]

Thank you for sharing your experience! Let me know if you need help digitizing your design for patch production.

[majtom7]

Thank you for filling us in on weekend camp.

Hopefully, USSRC was just out of the right name tags and separate shirts because somewhere there was a breakdown. Although giving the same shirt to everyone saves money, it's different than having your own unique group shirt. When we went on our Panama Canal cruise, I was disappointed that they had only one shirt that they could sell on both the eastbound and westbound passages. That could be why many people made up their own shirts.

[blachwk]

Hopefully, USSRC was just out of the right name tags and separate shirts because somewhere there was a breakdown. Although giving the same shirt to everyone saves money, it's different than having your own unique group shirt. When we went on our Panama Canal cruise, I was disappointed that they had only one shirt that they could sell on both the eastbound and westbound passages. That could be why many people made up their own shirts.

We figured that the shirt stock was being replenished before the main summer campers arrived and they had to use up existing stock or this is an effort to consolidate things and reduce costs. I am not quite sure about the badges, I am assuming they ran out of card stock and used whatever they had. Yes, it was disappointing when you look forward to something, but we understand things do happen as well. At least it was a badge and not a wristband. With the badges at least you can put a name to a face a lot easier than with a group of people wearing wristbands.

I would not be surprised eventually if the same shirt was issued across all camps and camper levels. It just makes smart business sense financially, to reduce costs and have a standard shirt. I could even see a shirt with the various camp logos together for the campers to wear. (Space Camp/Academy, Aviation Challenge, US Cyber Camp, and Robotics). Just like the shorts or duffel bags they had years ago that had all 3 logos together (Space Camp, Space Academy, and Aviation Challenge).

[airkale]

So who is gearing up for Summer fest and 50th anniversary? I will be in for both weekends. Anyone understand how the tickets work?

[Hotdog]

Very excited for Summerfest this year, with the added bonus of the Apollo 50 events rolled in with it! You can purchase tickets to the various events individually, but if you're going to be here all week, your best bet is to get the All Access Pass. You'll get a badge and a lanyard that gets you into the museum, theaters, etc all week long. You just missed the early bird discount, but you can still get yours at the regular price of $130. There's also a Summerfest discount for the Marriott, which was just renovated.

[Conan]

I will be there for the 14th through the 17th. With the events running over two weeks, I could only get one off from work and I work on Saturdays. But I got the All Access Apollo 50 pass so that I could attend the Apollo 50 Banquet. That was the only way to get that ticket because they were all sold out otherwise. I will be staying at the Marriott, so I may be visiting the Library. Hope to see some of you there.

[airkale]

Ok I booked the first weekend's hotel for the first Sat activities. We won't be in for he Tuesday banquet as my son will be at camp and we are moving on to TN for the md week. I am trying to figure out if we want to stay around for the concert on the following Sat.

Any feedback on the second weekend? If my kid graduates on Friday morning, is there anything going on Friday or Sat before the 7 pm event?

Anybody else besides me and Conan going?

[Hotdog]

I'll be there for sure, from the 13th until the 20th. Thursday is Biergarten, Friday is lunch with Hoot Gibson, and there's an astronomy thing going on at the planetarium that evening. Saturday there's a Pass The Torch lecture in the NatGeo theater before the concert. I'm sure there will be other things going on those days, but I don't know them yet.

[Conan]

I wonder if there is a way that someone else could use my Hall of Fame dinner ticket. I can't get there until Sunday the 14th and I bought a full event pass so that I could get the Apollo 50 ticket for the 16th. It's a pity if it can't be used.

[Hotdog]

You might let Amber know. Seems like there's always someone wanting to squeeze in a +1 at the last minute, so it would be helpful to know there will be an empty seat to accommodate them.

[airkale]

I'll be there for sure, from the 13th until the 20th. Thursday is Biergarten, Friday is lunch with Hoot Gibson, and there's an astronomy thing going on at the planetarium that evening. Saturday there's a Pass The Torch lecture in the NatGeo theater before the concert. I'm sure there will be other things going on those days, but I don't know them yet.

I didn't see anything about a Friday the 19th lunch with Hoot Gibson?

Booked hotels for both weekends, still not sure if we are going to stay for the concert. But I have a room either way.

[Hotdog]

It's posted here:
https://www.rocketcenter.com/calendar/2019-05-31/lunch-astronaut

[majtom7]

There's an Adult Advanced Space Academy listed for 11/3. Since there's no description of the program on the website, I asked for a sample schedule. I am hoping that this will be like the Elite program. We'll see what comes back.

P.S. On second look, it's priced way under the Elite camp yet significantly higher than the kids' camp with the same name.

[p51]

I have to be honest, and I can't believe I'm even thinking this, much less writing it, but unless I hear definitive proof that the adult program content has improved, I just don't see me going back anytime soon.
I have watched the quality of the adult program slowly diminish the last two times I have gone, to the point where last year, I would best describe it as the entire staff pretty much just phoned in the their participation in the experience.