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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 10:24 am
by p51
Hotdog wrote:They sell a blue jacket very similar to that in the gift shop, but I didn't take a close enough look at it to remember the exact details. It's very likely it's the same jacket though.
Interesting, because the only jacket of this type I've seen on the website is this: http://www.spacecamp.com/store/Royal-Av ... acket.html
Same jacket but a totally different patch layout. Yeah, I know, the website is next to useless for seeing what they really sell at Huntsville... :roll:

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 10:42 am
by Hotdog
I'm sure there's probably a Space Camp version of it, which may be what you're seeing in the eBay listing. It could be for sale, or only available to staff. You'll have to check on it when you go to camp! I do remember seeing quite a few blue jackets in the gift shop so maybe they have both kinds?

Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:17 pm
by monkeynautt
I bought a jacket at camp years ago that looks like the one in the photo. The staff version - at least when I worked there in 2009 and 2010 - had Space Camp and Aviation Challenge patches on it. I'm sure they still have the jackets in the store as they have every time I've been there since 2001.

Re:

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:47 am
by p51
monkeynautt wrote:I bought a jacket at camp years ago that looks like the one in the photo. The staff version - at least when I worked there in 2009 and 2010 - had Space Camp and Aviation Challenge patches on it. I'm sure they still have the jackets in the store as they have every time I've been there since 2001.
Yes, they do sell exactly that one there. I balked on buying one for a few reasons:
*The patches were glued to the thing, not sewn on.
*It was $110 if memory serves. Not cheap.
*I'd already bought a lot of stuff when I was at Camp and knew that a jacket on top of that would incurr a lot of wrath from my wife.
*It was in the 90s outside when I was looking at it. I couldn't imagine being cold at that point where I'd need a jacket!

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 3:00 pm
by Hotdog
I've never seen a set of wings that said "SPACE CAMP II". I have a set of the "SPACE CAMP" wings with a red shield and a set of "SPACE ACADEMY" wings with the blue shield. By the time I reached Academy Level II (1994) I got the nice shiny gold wings.

I'd say these wings are from the program that later became "Space Academy Level II" and "Advanced Space Academy", for high-school aged kids.

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Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 4:36 pm
by p51
Hotdog wrote:I've never seen a set of wings that said "SPACE CAMP II". I have a set of the "SPACE CAMP" wings with a red shield and a set of "SPACE ACADEMY" wings with the blue shield. By the time I reached Academy Level II (1994) I got the nice shiny gold wings.
I'd say these wings are from the program that later became "Space Academy Level II" and "Advanced Space Academy", for high-school aged kids.
My actual camp wing s on the lanyard in this photo, the rest I've collected from various places.
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Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:51 pm
by Boomerang
Space Camp Level 2 from what i understand did indeed become space Academy Level 2. From what i have been able to figure out space Camp opened and was probably most similar to the modern day space camp program. Not sure about the ages originally though. There were no other programs as the program grew in popularity they added a Space Camp Level 2 an advanced program i believe the age break down was space camp was middle school age and space camp level 2 high school age. Eventually a third program was added for younger students and the names were all changed to Camp, Academy level 1 and academy level 2. In the late 90s around 97 i believe the programs took on their current names.

Aviation challenge programs had a similar progression. Aviation Challenge was the original program i believe it was actually a high school program a middle school program was added within the next few years necesitating a name change. the middle School program became Aviation Challenge Basic and the High School program Aviation Challenge Intermediate. Then in 1996 an elementary school program was added Aviation Challenge Primary. Within a year the names were changed to Mach 1,2, and 3. However the original program names still cause confusion i've been told i went to the equivelant of Mach 2 because i went to the Intermediate program which would seem to mean the middle school program logically. when in fact i was a high schooler in Aviation Challenge's advanced program the equivelant of Mach 3 today. I've been after them to change this on the alumni community on the space camp website as well since they only list the programs as Mach 1,2, and 3 and i have seen people registering themselves as mach 2 but their team names were mach 3 and in a year when it was intermediate. The confusion seems to be widespread.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:23 am
by gt0163c
[quote="p51]Image[/quote]

The silver "Advanced Space Academy" wings were what we got when I attended the week-long adult program in 2007. That was the 25th annivesary year and we were told those were special wings just for that year. One of the counselors even joked that our wings "better not end up on ebay".

When I went to Academy Level I in 1989, we got the dull silver/pewter wings with the blue "Space Academy" shield. When I did Academy Level II in the early '90's, we got the gold wings with the full color Space Academy logo. I always thought those wings looked the best.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:17 pm
by SpaceCanada
gt0163c wrote: The silver "Advanced Space Academy" wings were what we got when I attended the week-long adult program in 2007. That was the 25th annivesary year and we were told those were special wings just for that year. One of the counselors even joked that our wings "better not end up on ebay".
Those pewter/silver ASA wings have been around since at least 1998, possibly 1997. I have three pairs of them on my lanyard, one for each ASA programme I attended (1998, 1999, 2004).

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:47 pm
by street
gt0163c wrote:The silver "Advanced Space Academy" wings were what we got when I attended the week-long adult program in 2007. That was the 25th annivesary year and we were told those were special wings just for that year.
Yes, those (shiny pewter) were done just for the 25th anniversary year. Otherwise the wings pictured in your post are the ones currently in use.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 12:45 am
by p51
Just scored this off ePay:
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I am thinking of making a pair of wings out of this due to its color, it'd look good mounted onto a WW2 observer's wing, as the center of that wing is round and this pin would fit well on top of that.
Or, I'll just put it in with all the other SC stuff I have... :lol:

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 3:33 pm
by rkolker
"Space Camp II" was what they called Space Academy the first year. That's a rare set of wings.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:28 pm
by p51
What's the story on the guy to the right (with beard, looking down) in this shot? Are these hall of fame patches on his flight suit?
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Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:25 pm
by Hotdog
That's Jim Allan, one of our Hall Of Famers. The patch above his name badge is the Hall Of Fame patch. The rest are likely SCI-VIS patches (SPACE CAMP for Interested Visually Impaired Students).

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:15 pm
by p51
I won one of the orange flight suits off eBay today. It's an XXL, much larger than I need, but I've never seen one on eBay before in any size, so I nabbed it. Heck, I could wear it over bulky stuff with room to spare, so it'd likely come in handy at camp at some point in the future (it's always better to have larger than smaller when it comes to something like that). It has all the earlier patches, the NASA 'worm' patch, instead of the round 'meatball' patch used now. It also has the US Space Camp round patch. The photos look like it's very clean and unlikely well worn.
As soon as it shows up, I'll post plenty of photos, but my question is how often did these suits get off the grounds of the center? I don't know if these were sold in the past, is there any chance someone swiped this? If so, I sure don't want to bring it back there the next time I go so SC and then have someone say, "thanks for bringing our suit back," or worse yet, have anyone there think I made off with it in the past. 8O
My idea is to do some changes to it, maybe even adding a chem-light pocket to the sleeve like the ACES suits had. I also want to swap out the US flag for a much larger white-bordered flag (again, like the real suits, that's where the large US flag patch started, and is now carried to a 3X5" flag on the blue flight suits astronauts wear today).
So anyway, any of you old-timers from back in the day ever saw these being sold?

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 6:27 pm
by Vincent
As best as I can recall, the orange suits were worn by museum staff way, way, way...way back in the day.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 7:20 pm
by p51
I wonder when they started using them in places of the ACES suits for crews? There's an entire room full of them (and light blue suits from the late 80s and 90s) for the Atlantis simulator, I was seriously drooling when I walked through this place:
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Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 9:09 am
by Hotdog
Mid to late 90s at the earliest. They weren't using them in 1994 or prior.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2013 1:42 pm
by Boomerang
they didnt start using the orage suits for ACES suits at camp till sometime after the training cener remodeling in the early 2000's. Thats when they tried to give a white toom to the shuttle sims before that you wore a blue flight suit if yu had one and whatever you wore that day otherwise. The orange flight suits were used my museum guides and other musem staff i believe even to 2005 i seem to remember seeing them on staff at tat time when i went to corporate that year but were out of use by atleast 07.

Re: Space Camp flight suit differences and details...

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 11:18 pm
by p51
It's not SC, but I couldn't resist...
I really lucked up recently. I'd looked into getting a jacket from the actual NASA contractor, and I found one exactly as they use, for a third of the price, apparently someone ordered it but never got the thing. This was a ridiculously good deal, I couldn't pass on it. I also got a pair of matching NOMEX flight gloves (the next time I take a hop in a WW2 airplane, I'm going NASA style!).
I also had an extra NASA 'meatball' patch and a 3X5 inch US flag, also both from the NASA contractor. There is nothing to distinguish this from a real one.
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