Total noob...where have I been?!

Going to camp soon? Have questions about camp? Post them here for those that have gone to answer.

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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by p51 »

Did they say why you're not going to be in HAB 1? Do they have a really large event going on or doing some work in there?
Rooms in HAB 1 have referred to be claustraphobic by a few people I've been on teams with in the past.
I've never seen HAB 3, and only walked into HAB 2 this past October for the first time ever as I was curious what it looked like in there.
Being not in HAB 1 might work out well for you, as you'll get to meet a lot of different people.
But in the end, the HAB is only a place to try to get some sleep. You'll spend next to no time in there otherwise.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by Conan »

I stayed in one of the large bays at Aviation Challenge when I was there for Adult AC, several years ago. There were about 20 bunks but only 4 women at our camp. We had lots of room and were able to bond as a group. One benefit of Hab 2 might be closer restrooms. In Hab 1 you often have to go up or down a floor to find a female restroom.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by street »

We are doing a complete and long needed reno of all of the Hab I rooms! Even the RA rooms are getting a make over. The rooms won't be any bigger, but there'll be new flooring, new ceiling and paint and general sprucing up. It should be done by the end of February and boy, are we excited!

Jenn, you'll be in a bay in Hab II with the other females in your program. That's only 6 of you, so you'll have plenty of elbow space. :D
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by p51 »

street wrote:We are doing a complete and long needed reno of all of the Hab I rooms! Even the RA rooms are getting a make over. The rooms won't be any bigger, but there'll be new flooring, new ceiling and paint and general sprucing up. It should be done by the end of February and boy, are we excited!
Sounds like a worthwile reason, I was really wondering about this as well.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by SpaceCanada »

Wow, that is fantastic news! Any new doors in the plans for this upgrade, street? Some were in horrible disrepair in 2012. I hope they will be repaired as well.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by wxnerdjenn »

Thanks guys! I am over the initial panic (ahhhhh change!) And back to 100% excited. Im currently camped on the couch at my dads house. He'll be taking me to the airport in the morning for my too long journey to huntsville. I've got an extra carryon size suitcase stowed empty inside my large suitcase so im ready to bring home the entire gift shop haha.

6 of us in hab 2 should be rather nice :-D
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by majtom7 »

street wrote:We are doing a complete and long needed reno of all of the Hab I rooms! Even the RA rooms are getting a make over. The rooms won't be any bigger, but there'll be new flooring, new ceiling and paint and general sprucing up. It should be done by the end of February and boy, are we excited!
What's that going to do to the pricing of adult camps going forward? (I understand that it's probably a question above your pay grade yet the renovation has to be paid for some way.)
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by wxnerdjenn »

My first day is done and holy cow...this was worth the wait. And every penny. There are only ten of us (go team Challenger!) and only 4 females in the room in Hab 2 since 2 others are staying at the marriot. We are bonding nicely and our trainer is fantastic. I love this place.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by p51 »

So glad to hear you're having a great time.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by Steve »

wxnerdjenn wrote:My first day is done and holy cow...this was worth the wait. And every penny. There are only ten of us (go team Challenger!) and only 4 females in the room in Hab 2 since 2 others are staying at the marriot. We are bonding nicely and our trainer is fantastic. I love this place.
Keep us posted, Looking forward your updates & have a Great Time!!!! :lol:
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by wxnerdjenn »

Day 2 is done. Most of the team is in the..library..studying. ahem. I don't study those kinds of books so I'm back in the hab still basking in how awesome today was. I not only got to be pilot for bravo, but I got to be commander in charlie (2 hour). I'll write more about it when I get home. Such an amazing weekend. Can't wait to launch our rockets tomorrow!
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by street »

SpaceCanada wrote:Wow, that is fantastic news! Any new doors in the plans for this upgrade, street? Some were in horrible disrepair in 2012. I hope they will be repaired as well.
Yes, doors should be repaired and standardized. I agree,the slamming doors are horrible! I was just in there a few minutes ago and you can smell all the repairs! (new wall panels) :lol:
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by p51 »

Jenn, seriously, we're all expecting a lengthy blog (WITH PHOTOS) once you get everything sorted out. So glad you had a great time! :D I'm especially envious as I realized I won't be getting back there until next year... :cry:
wxnerdjenn wrote:Most of the team is in the..library..studying. ahem. I don't study those kinds of books so I'm back in the hab still basking in how awesome today was.
I never heard of the bar at the Marriott refered to as 'The Library' until my last trip there in October. I have no idea what the name of that bar is, do they still call it, "Otters"?
I'm not much of a drinker, even when I was much younger or still in the Army, but I'm not above hoisting a cold one just the one time with my team. I must admit, when i was there last time I was susprised to find my favorite beer (Grolsch Lager, I developed a fondness of it in the Netherlands, only tourists drink Heineken) in bottles there, so I had to have one.
wxnerdjenn wrote:I not only got to be pilot for bravo, but I got to be commander in charlie (2 hour). I'll write more about it when I get home.
Wow, you lucked up both times? Generally, the three day camps mean you get one mission in MOCR, one in the ISS, and one in the Orbiter (or Orion). Most folks don't get to use the orbiter twice. CDR on the Charlie mission is the best experience you can get. I lucked up in 2013 with that position and loved every second of it.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by wxnerdjenn »

Yes, full blog with photos and video will be up as soon as I can! Today has been a lazy, back to earth day so I haven't even pulled the SD card out of my camera yet. My team only had 10 people and we all meshed so perfectly. Some people wanted to repeat positions for charlie and no one wanted the CDR position. I said I wanted to pilot again if no one else wanted to, so I was stoked when everyone kept saying they wanted various positions in MOCR or ISS. The guy who was CDR for alpha and I decided if no one else spoke up, he would be pilot and I would be CDR for charlie, but another person said they wanted to pilot. Tom (CDR for alpha) was kind enough to let me take CDR. I couldn't, and still can't, believe my luck. Not only did we get to do three shuttle missions, but I got to be a button masher and flip switcher twice! So awesome.

I really lucked out this weekend. We had a great trainer, and a ridiculously awesome team. Only one person had been there before, and that was many years ago when he was a kid. Incidentally, he's the guy who let me take CDR for charlie. We all just really *wanted* to be there. We took everything seriously, even the mission patch. It was the most amazing weekend of my life. I can't wait to go back, but I doubt it will ever be as awesome as this weekend. Something about just having the ten of us really made it special.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by p51 »

wxnerdjenn wrote:Some people wanted to repeat positions for charlie and no one wanted the CDR position. I said I wanted to pilot again if no one else wanted to, so I was stoked when everyone kept saying they wanted various positions in MOCR or ISS.
Wow, I've never even heard of that happening before. Normally there's someone who wants to land the orbiter. How'd you do?
wxnerdjenn wrote:I really lucked out this weekend. We had a great trainer, and a ridiculously awesome team.
Who was your trainer? Someone here might know this person.
wxnerdjenn wrote:We took everything seriously, even the mission patch.
Did you win on the patch? Can't wait to see what it looked like as the adult patches rarely ever get posted anywhere...
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by Hotdog »

Hi Jenn, thanks for remembering us at Hab1 after what I'm sure was an overwhelming experience. We are all chomping at the bit to hear all of the details of your time at Camp. We live vicariously through folks like yourself, in anticipation of the next time we get to go back.

Some questions I have...Which shuttles did you fly for your missions? I'm guessing Enterprise, but were any of the other orbiter sims available? I know lots of changes are going on in the training center with the new ISS Exhibit and the old sims being moved out into the new shuttle exhibit by the Pathfinder. Did you guys fly an Orion mission at all? Were you given a sneak-peek at the new shuttle exhibit in the old Astrotrek building?

My first time at Space Camp, I was on a team of only 11. Smaller teams are better since you get to bond more, and I imagine that might be even more important given the shorter adult camp sessions. A cohesive team bond is the most important part of any Space Camp experience. When you have this key factor working for you, it doesn't matter what position or spacecraft you get for your mission or what awards you win. The singular "wants" fade, in favor of the group experience and the strong bonds that can last a lifetime. It sounds like you got a pretty good taste of this given the short descriptions we have been given so far. If I ever come out of retirement for one last go-around, I hope I land in a group with this kind of harmony again.

Looking forward to hearing more about your time at camp and seeing any pictures you care to share.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by wxnerdjenn »

So I haven't been ambitious enough to write up my blogs yet, but I did upload a pile of photos. http://www.flickr.com/serietah to see them all

We used Enterprise for all three missions. I'm thinking that due to feedback from previous groups, they decided not to have us do any Orion missions. If I recall correctly, Enterprise is the only functioning orbiter sim at the present time. Endeavor (in the Astrotek building) wasn't accessible, though it sure was cool to sit under it while we did the 1/6 chair. Hotdog, you will be quite familiar with our crew trainer: Will! We loved him. His passion was contagious. I couldn't believe my luck when he was able to write my name down for CDR of the last mission. My team had bonded so well, we were like family by the end. In fact, all of us are now friends on facebook (except two who don't use it, but we have each other on twitter). I truly miss them, and I really am not a people person so that's saying something.

So our mission patch.
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We worked really hard on it. Everyone contributed something, whether it was an idea, color choice, or part of the actual drawing. None of us were really artists, but I think it came out fantastic. We chose to incorporate the three words we decided on at Area 51 at the very beginning of camp: Knowledge, Trust, and Integrity. We also wanted to use stars to represent each person on the team rather than trying to fit names into the design. So we have the ten stars falling out of....a bucket? Since we liked the idea of choosing a design that explains what brought us to camp, we quickly decided that a "bucket list" is something that would adequately represent what brought many of us to camp. The quote "Live the Dream" over the stars is also to represent what brought us to camp. One guy had the idea of the engines and wings on the bucket. It turned out really cute and I'm quite in love with it. We're going to have it made into real patches and stickers and I can't wait to slap those on everything I own.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by p51 »

Great photos. Did you take any in the Astrotech building? I'm having a hard time visualizing what the place looks like now as none of the sims were there in October when i was there last time.
I remember Will from my last time, he was the trainer, I think, for the Facoebook space group that went at the same 4-day session we were in. I didn't talk with him but he seemed to be quite a character.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by wxnerdjenn »

I didn't take any wider angle shots of the building unfortunately. Where the 1/6 chair is, there used to be two chairs and moon surfaces but now there's only one. The Endeavor and (I think) ISS module take up quite a bit of that part of the building. So you walk in that left side door and there's the Endeavor, at an angle with the nose pointing toward the corner of the building. Then there are a couple of benches and the 1/6 chair. The other side of the building, where the MATs are, doesn't have any sims in it, just the MATs on that far right wall and the rest is empty space. It looks like a lot of changes will be coming in the near future.
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Re: Total noob...where have I been?!

Post by SpaceCanada »

All smiles in all the photos - you must have had a wonderful time! Cannot wait to hear about everything you did, your team, and everything in between. :)
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