First days at camp

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

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Boomerang
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First days at camp

Post by Boomerang »

Well since the first day of space camp can be exciting, fun and even frightning for some i thought it would be a good idea to let first time campers know what to expect on their first day. I thought we could talk about the first day of camp for each of the times we've gone and compare.
When i went to space camp in 1991 my dad drove me down we took 3 days to drive although we could have done it in 2 but we spent some time with family on the way down. By the way after 3 days with my brother and i in the baclk seat my dad said hed never take us on another long car trip ever again and true to his word he hasnt. The firth thing i remember as we aproached the space and rocket center was Seeing the Saturn 1 towering above the trees. We got to the center went to hab 1 and checked in on the first floor where we got our room assignments and name tags as well as linnens. Then i went and got my space camp flight suit and clothing package i'd ordered and went over to hab 2 to find my room. We found it i stowed my gear made my bed and went to the team room where i met the first member of my team. We sat and talked for a while before we went to lunch then came back and met the rest of our team. Then we had our orientation and met our night counselor Kenn who i would remain friends with for many years. the rest of the day was spent touring the camp getting to know eachother and finnaly seeing a movie that night before bed. The first year at camp the first day went by fast and we really didnt do anything much atleast not till monday.
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
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Boomerang
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Post by Boomerang »

When i went to space Academy level 1 in 1993 the first day was verry short. My flight was a evening arival and was delayed by a rain storm over huntsville. I got to the space and rocket center in a drenching rain storm. We had been checked in and gotten our name tags and room assignents at the airport. We went to our rooms and put our stuff away one member of my team had been on the same flight. Then we went and met our team at dinner. I also ran into Kenn from camp in 91 at dinner that night. After dinner we worked on our mission patc design and a mars base design before we went to a movie then bed.
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
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Boomerang
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Post by Boomerang »

When i went to AC in 1996 i arrived a day early. The sun was going down as i got their and right off the bus i ran into Kenn again who had been my counselor in 91. Now he was the transportation director for the camp. We went and got our linnens when went to eat a brown bag dinner. After dinner all of the arriving AC people got on a GOAT no not the animal its a small tractor vehicle painted to look like a military truck. It took us over to the aviation challenge area. We got their stowed gear then went and watched Return of the Jedi and ate pizza till lights out time. The next day was the first day for most campers. we went to breakfast then came back swam in the lake for a while then went and sat under the dome to wait for our teammates to start arriving. I met a few of mine who had actually come the night before like me. And slowly the rest came. They took some of us over to get our clothing packages then back to the AC area where we chose our callsigns. Later in the day we had some aircraft lectures and did our first sim session on take offs and landings.
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
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Boomerang
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Post by Boomerang »

When i went to Advanced academy in 1998 i got their in late afternoon on wednesday. For some reason thats when our session started. When i got their i found my room stowed my stuff then was taken to a class room where my team was. After the lecture we went on space shot which is also where i got to see what positions my counselor had assigned me for the 1 hour missions. We had another lecture later that evening and we went to see a movie. I'm sure we did other stuf as well but for some reason i dont remember anything else. I know the team also had a scuba orientation before i got their but it wasnt anything they didnt go over on the day we did scuba.
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
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Post by whitestar »

My first Space Camp was at Florida. I drove down with my mom and my sister. I was pretty annoyed when they dropped me off because they were talking about how they were going to go to the beach. But, I quickly got settled in. I met my group early on and we talked about ourselves. Of course, we had a girl from Britain there and most of us tried to mimic her voice. By the end of camp, we were all speaking in British accents even if we didn't want to! But, we had a lot of fun.
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Post by Boomerang »

We had a girl with a brittish accent on my team in 93. All the guys had a crush on her and no one made fun of her, that's for sure. But in 98 when I went we had 2 girls from Wisconsin and within a day everyone at camp was talking in a Wisconsin accent.
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
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Post by monkeynautt »

I had to arrive a day early since it takes forever to get from were I live in Canada to Huntsville. We arrived at around 6pm and gave our tickets to the person who picked us up. There was 7 of us who were on the same flight from Houston. We picked up our luggage and took a bus to camp. We dropped our luggage at the bottom of Hab 1 and took our med forms over to the nurse. The counselors watching us gave us our badges. We went to watch a movie but they took all ASA and Mach 3 to a classroom. We got to watch Happy Gilmore on a DVD player a kid brought. (it was portable). By this time it was around 7:30 and there were 4 of us who had not eaten. Finally a counselor took us for a bagged dinner. We went back to watch the movie. Around nine they took us back to Hab 2 because we had to get ready for bed. All the girls were in one room and all the boys were downstairs. Me and my friend had been up since 4am and were really tired but the little Space Camp and Academy girls wouldn't shut up. The counselor also left the door open a bit because some kids were afraid of the dark. I was just around the corner so the light didn't really bother me. I had only been at camp for a couple hours but it seemed like a long time!!
-Laura
ASA:
Aug 2001 - Shepard
Aug 2002 - Shepard
July 2003 - Goddard
Dec 2003/Jan 2004 - Von Braun
May/June 2004 - Enterprise
Alumni SA:
June 2007 - Challenger
July 2009 - Columbia
Counselor:
Summer 2009
Robotics Counselor:
Summer 2010
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LaRsOnAtRiXkIx
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Post by LaRsOnAtRiXkIx »

i was so scared my first day. i went down a day early too. see, flying to huntsville was only the 3rd or 4th time i'd flown anywhere on a BIG airplane, and it was the first time without adults. I was with my friend courtney though. I remember when the plane landed in huntsville. it was such a short flight from atlanta, i didnt have time to get myself ready. i was so scared getting off the plane, i was lke ahh what if nobody is here blablabla...but we got off and LOL standing at the gate waiting were 2 ladies in flight suits. we totally lost it, we were laughing hystarically and one lady was like kristina and courtney? and we were like uh~huh...and she was ilek come with us and we were like ah okay. then one took our tickets and the other took us to get our bags, and some boy from california was there too . i guess his plane got there a little bit before ours. so we drove in a van to space camp. it was really cool driving up, seeing all the lights and the saturn v. we had seen the satrun v from the plane, it was 7ish when we landed, and didnt know what it was. so we were standing in the bottom of hab 1 holding all our stuff and these people were going over all the rules. it was like ahh. then these 2 other girls, one was in academy with us and the other was in advanced academy, took us up to our room. then we went to the cafeteria with a bunch of boys too and they gave us roast beef sandwitches. lol i dont eat meat so i was liek ahh and gave it to the guys so i ate the pickles and stuff. then we went to our rooms, and courntey and i took showers cuz we felt ucky after the flight. i think the boys played tag then or somethign outside. then we went to bed, took me FOREVER to fall asleep. around 1 another girl came in. she was in advacned academy. the next morning all us early arrival kids got to ride space shot and gforce forever, and walk around the museum, and jus hang out. it was really cool. then in the afternoon a bunch of other kids came. there was a HUGE group of people from chicago, from a school. at least 100 of them. it was scarrry, most of the teams were all chicago kids. but mine was a nice mix of kids from all different backgrounds. so we met our counselor, went on another tour, got to go on rides more, ate dinner, went over rules again, had to move our room to down the hall and meet new people. one thing that was really weird was that courtney and i were the only girls from our team in our room. even though there were only 5 girls on the team. the other people in my room were 2 girls from chicago, and 3 girls that were on the same team (1 from tennessee, 1 from west virginia, and 1 from georgia i think) it was pretty cool, getting to know them too. staying up late talking. hehe. i miss space camp!
-kristina-
april 1 ~ april 6, 2001
space academy - team calypso
april 6 ~ april 11, 2003
advanced space academy - team von braun
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Post by monkeynautt »

Me and my friend were the only ones from our team in our room we were with 5 girls from another team. I gave us a chance to meet new people. This year I'm going by myself so I'll be with others from my team!!
-Laura
ASA:
Aug 2001 - Shepard
Aug 2002 - Shepard
July 2003 - Goddard
Dec 2003/Jan 2004 - Von Braun
May/June 2004 - Enterprise
Alumni SA:
June 2007 - Challenger
July 2009 - Columbia
Counselor:
Summer 2009
Robotics Counselor:
Summer 2010
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Post by Boomerang »

Well i'm glad my first day experiences were better than some other people's. I'll admit i was a little nervous the first time and flying alone was a new experiance the second time but once i got their and everything got started nervousness always went out the window.
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
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monkeynautt
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Post by monkeynautt »

I wasn't really nervous because I was just so excited. Space Camp had beena dream of mine for so long. I was in a daze for the first day!!
-Laura
ASA:
Aug 2001 - Shepard
Aug 2002 - Shepard
July 2003 - Goddard
Dec 2003/Jan 2004 - Von Braun
May/June 2004 - Enterprise
Alumni SA:
June 2007 - Challenger
July 2009 - Columbia
Counselor:
Summer 2009
Robotics Counselor:
Summer 2010
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LaRsOnAtRiXkIx
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Post by LaRsOnAtRiXkIx »

i had waited for like ever too. i cant believe i actually got a chance to go.
-kristina-
april 1 ~ april 6, 2001
space academy - team calypso
april 6 ~ april 11, 2003
advanced space academy - team von braun
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Post by orion8 »

The first day was very slow for us. girst we went to the portables, that wood-paneled messy room where they put you when they dont know what to do with you :D they told us the rules, taught us about scuba, and how to read checklists. basically we got to know eachother. well i didn't learn everyones name 'cus i was distracted by this girl at my table who was totally hot. an she was wearin' really short denim shorts so i wasn't payin' any attention. i just love summer.
Matt

Advanced Space Academy 2001
27 May - 03 June - Team von Braun - Pilot

Advanced Space Academy 2002
22 June - 28 June - Team von Braun - Payload Specialist
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Post by Boomerang »

I know the feeling i had a whole team full of distracting hot looking girls.
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
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Post by orion8 »

hot girls are definately a distraction. and short denim shorts are the greatest invention ever besides space camp!
Matt

Advanced Space Academy 2001
27 May - 03 June - Team von Braun - Pilot

Advanced Space Academy 2002
22 June - 28 June - Team von Braun - Payload Specialist
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Post by Vincent »

...They use a bunch of common space-like terms for things at Space Camp; "Sick Bay," "Waste Management," etc.,

In that spirit, the best thing I've found to do to mazimize my enjoyment of Space Camp (considering how little time I would get to spend there in a given year) is to just "stow it."

I offer the same advice for here.

:wink:

But keep in mind that I say this all in jest...enjoy all your time at camp in any manner possible!
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First Time at Camp

Post by Space Camp Brainiac »

I am going to Space Camp in August. Thanks for all the tips, I appreciate it a lot! I just hope I will make some friends!
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Post by monkeynautt »

Watch out for the heat!
-Laura
ASA:
Aug 2001 - Shepard
Aug 2002 - Shepard
July 2003 - Goddard
Dec 2003/Jan 2004 - Von Braun
May/June 2004 - Enterprise
Alumni SA:
June 2007 - Challenger
July 2009 - Columbia
Counselor:
Summer 2009
Robotics Counselor:
Summer 2010
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spacecampaddict28
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Post by spacecampaddict28 »

Oh my where to begin????? I don't know if I can do justice to this, but trust me there's never a dull moment at Space Camp. You will be going from as early as 6:30 to as late as 11:30 or 12. Um okay I've been 7 times, but some of this is escaping me now. Anyway, basically you do simulators and go to lectures (ASA). This is only for ASA but yeah, you have three missions and then a 6 hour EDM. You also have museum and rocket park time, you can ride Space Shot, sleep in the ever so cool Hab1, and go Scuba diving if you are a MS or PS. If you are a Pilot you go over to AC. There are some track specific labs which are also lots of fun. There is also a Spacebowl at the end (which I kick butt at) where they test your knowledge. I am probably leaving stuff out so someone fill in the gaps.
ASA Xmas Camp 05 (last one :()
ASA 12-day July 05
ASA 8-day Xmas Camp 04
ASA 8-day July 04
ASA June 04
ASA March 04
ASA Xmas Camp 03
ASA July 03
ASA March 03
ASA Xmas Camp 02
ASA Xmas Camp 01
SA 00
AC Mach II 99
SA 98
SC 97
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