What happened after "Spacecamp" took place?

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p51
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What happened after "Spacecamp" took place?

Post by p51 »

I watched my DVD of the movie today for the heck of it, hadn't seen it in a very long time. I often wonder what happened to characters after the movie was over.
Here's my take on a few things that likely happened:
  • All the crew were awarded astronaut pins by NASA but only after congresional review when they were at first turned down for the honor. A lawsuit against NASA was undertaken by the parents of all the campers which they won in court, forcing NASA to recognize the entire crew as "astronauts." NASA also settled out of court with the parents of each camper. Of course, space camp personnel were never allowed near any active NASA launches again. Space Camp placed the entire crew of the mission on their "do not accept" list and were never again allowed to attend Space Camp due to the massive negative publicity from the event. Almost everyone involved in what became known as "The Atlantis Incident" were fired by NASA.
  • Kathryn applied for NASA several times after she got her PHD in physics, but was turned down each time. An airshow pilot after college, she was injured in the crash of a WW2 Corsair fighter and never piloted an airplane again. She's currently teaching astronomy at Tallahassee Community College. Her book, "Go for launch" was on the NY Times best sellers list for almost a year in 1990. Several movie adaptations of the book were discussed but the film version remains in 'development hell.'
  • Kevin also had 15 minutes of fame and did some acting through the 90s. Today, he hosts a couple of reality shows on the Discovery Channel.
  • Max committed suicide in 1995 after a long drug and alcohol problem. His family pointed at NASA as having caused the issues he never came to terms with after the launch.
  • Tish also worked in TV and was a regular on MTV through to the mid 90s. After an ill-fated career in fashion, she got her doctorate and now teaches at MIT.
  • Rudy owns a McDonalds in Aberdeen, Maryland and refuses interviews on the incident.
  • Jinx was quickly dismantled and once the connection was made between the robot and the launch, the contractors were immediately blamed for the whole thing. In 1998, Max's parents filed a Freedom of Information request to know what happened to Max's robot pal, but the documentation was 'misplaced' and never found. None of Jinx's components were ever identified and the robot remains missing to this day.
  • Zach and Andie were pretty much blacklisted by NASA as being involved in the whole debacle. The director of NASA was once was quoted as saying, "No Bergstrom will ever fly on my watch!" They were transferred to admin duties, and both quit soon afterward in disgust (much like the Apollo 15 astronauts).
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Post by bnaivar »

All of the above now make their living touring Sci-Fi and Star Trek conventions, where they hawk autographs for $10 each, except Jinx, who now resides in the abandoned missile silo with the recovered pieces of Challenger.
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Post by p51 »

bnaivar wrote:All of the above now make their living touring Sci-Fi and Star Trek conventions, where they hawk autographs for $10 each, except Jinx, who now resides in the abandoned missile silo with the recovered pieces of Challenger.
Heh heh, you have a point, they'd all do well on the autograph circuit today. I hadn't really thought of that...
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Post by p51 »

One more I just thought of:
  • Hideo Takamini's lawsuit against Space Camp and Kevin's family went nowhere, but he never forgave Kevin for taking his namebadge and getting onto the crew. He also never forgave space camp for looking the other way and allowing it. His book, "Courage denied" was never picked up by any publisher and was self-published to very low sales (copies are very hard to find today). He still bitterly argues that Kevin ruined his life by 'robbing' him of his chance to be launched into space. Never having gone to college (which he argued was a waste of time when all you need to do is lie to get ehad), he now works as the night manager of a Taco Bell in Phoenix.
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