First Memory at space camp

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 8:41 pm

There is a New Mexico? J/K Yeah that is pretty sad but then geography seems to be seriously lacking among mot people.

As for the accents Virginia is an intresting state. Technicaly we are a southern state. But we dont have a distinctive accent like most southern states do. We seem to be stuck in the middle. People in the north say we sound like we are from the south, people in the south say we sound like we are from the north. And depending on where in Virginia you live you will sound diffrent. When i was at AC i had a girl from northern Virginia tell me i couldnt be from Virginia because Virginians don't sound like that. I'm from south eastern Virginia about 4 hours away from where she was from. go west into the central part and the mountains you get other accents we are just a weird state. And while we are on the subject of Virginia and the subject of geoography let me set the record straight being from Virginia does not mean you live close to Washington DC even though people assume that all the time. We are a big state I am 4 hours from DC people in the western end of the state are even further. Yes Washington Dc sits right on the border with Virginia but that doesnt make everyone in Virginia live close to DC

monkeynautt · Post by **monkeynautt** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 12:06 am

I once had a counselor ask me if I lived near Toronto, Ontario. Huntsville is closer to Toronto than I am. It's funny that when you mention Canada some people assume you live in or near Toronto.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 9:43 am

Or the 'Oh, I know Sally from Vancouver, do you know her?' Oh yes, because I know all 30 million Canadians on a first name basis...

My first time at Space Camp (in JULY!) I seriously convinced a few of my teammates that:
- It took two days by DOGSLED to get to the airport.
- I have a pet poar bear named Humushu.
- The McDonald's live down the street. (when asked about whether or not we have the 'restaurant', if you can call it that. I am ashamed to say we have three of them in this place of 50 000 people.)
- My dad built the first two storey igloo in our village.
- I bought all my summer clothes in Salt Lake City airport.

Oh, I had way too much fun playing with the minds of some of the more gulible team mates that year. I told them al the truth after a day or two.

Another guy asked me if it is 'Canada Goose' or 'Canadian Geese' and I said 'yes'. (They are both correct.)

Oh, and the OREO story... and *REAL* Smarties... so many stories...

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 4:09 pm

LOL that is funny. so what kind of extras can you get on a dog sled? hope it comes with heat. AC shouldnt be a problem. j/k

monkeynautt · Post by **monkeynautt** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 6:36 pm

On a school trip to Germany we had a guy convinced that we had a pet polar bear.

des · Post by **des** » Fri Apr 13, 2007 11:05 pm

What did you name him?

--des

monkeynautt wrote:On a school trip to Germany we had a guy convinced that we had a pet polar bear.

pilotgirl21 · Post by **pilotgirl21** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:10 pm

My first memory was my mother driving me on slow highway roads from my aunt's house in Mississippi-about a four hour drive-and me being very very nervous and excited. I remember coming up on the USSRC and seeing the replicas and getting even more nervous and excited. I was scared too...the Space Camp movie didn't make out space camp to be that much fun...more studying and reading, which is not my idea of fun. The next thing I remember was going to my room and finding another girl with her mother in the room-she was from New York-and our mothers kind of put us together as bunk mates.

iheartspacecamp · Post by **iheartspacecamp** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:55 am

wow you guys are gonna make me rack my brain for memories? I honestly dont really remember a whole lot from my first camp experience in florida. That was a LONG time ago. I do remember for some reason the little red lockers we each had and how we had to have a lock on them. is it bad that i still have that lock and remember the combination to this day?

alabama memories are much more abundant.

i remember getting taken from the plane, thrown in that little movie room, meeting my roomies in the hab, and going nuts in the hab with them. i apparently was a spaz too during my first rocket building experience and I think mine took a nose dive into teh dirt after a few seconds. i remember making that gak stuff on my mission.. lol..i could go on and on..

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:15 pm

the lock was always needed in Alabama too. I still have mine too come to think of it and i do still remember its combination after 16 years. But then i kept using it at space camp and at other camps on my footlocker.

rkolker · Post by **rkolker** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:59 pm

First Memory?

It was 1985, the first regular adult session and they dropped us off at the "bubble" (now Hab 2, more or less) and pointed us down a ramp to the basement. That was it!

Those of us who were there just explored the barracks and found a bunch of flightsuits, so we all tried those on. There was a lot of banging going on above us, on the training floor. I snuck up there and watched them shoot a little bit of Space Camp-The Movie before they threw me out. Then they kept us awake all night moving the multi-axis trainer (and probably other stuff) around.

That's the first memory.

empress · Post by **empress** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:43 pm

Oh gosh - I went with an organized tour group out of a travel agency. We came in at night, so the first thing I remember is seeing the Saturn I. It was easy to see because Space Camp was the Bubble (Hab 2) back then - there was no Training Center built yet. I know I felt very excited because I was finally in the city where I felt Rocketry was born.

I remember taking a test to determine what position we would hold. I remember having LOTs of fun with the 5-DF and that as we worked our way around a pallet, our counselor swiped one of the hand-holds so that we had to swing around and time it just right so that we could grab on to an edge and not go flying off into "space." (And yes, I got it.) I remember little demonstations, like a dude using a blow torch on a shuttle tile that he held in his hand. And I remember how great the food was ... since the Training Center hadn't been built yet, we all ate at the Marriott for every meal!

I am ashamed to say that I don't remember any of the group I went with that trip - none made a lasting impression, except that one guy insisted on wearing his flight suit back on the plane, something I never would have done...

But I had such a great time that I went back the next year for a "new" 10-day adult session. Now THOSE people I remember!!! I believe one was ... Rich Kolker??? That's how I met the people of Enterprise Team. Several of that 10-day group are still friends of mine today - we've kept in touch for that long.

So - Memories of Space Camp - rockets, crashing sims, a Death Ray on the Commander's panel, stuffing the Apollo capsule on the museum floor with campers, lots of $ spent at the various gift shops, IMAX movies, and great people - campers, counselors, and office personel. Oh yes - and if you bump the seat ahead of you during "The Dream Is Alive" just as the basket hits the bumper during the launch escape test, your intended "victim" is sure to almost fall out of it!!!

Princess · Post by **Princess** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 10:10 am

I wish that I remembered more but the main thing that stuck was this:

1. I loved every minute of it
(My mom called my aunt this week and reminded her of the hard time she gave my mom about spending the money and here I am going back

)

2. My flight director kept messing up and I was very serious about the mission

Can not wait for next year!

Conan · Post by **Conan** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:30 am

The thing that I remember most from my first visit was that the Hab-1 building had just opened. They were still working on it and the first night the sawdust tripped off the fire alarm. My friends and I managed to jump into our blue suits before we rushed outside! That at 3 in the morning! We were clear-thinking astronaut-candidates and knew that the most important thing is to look the part in an emergency!
My fondest memory is of my second and subsequent trips. It is the feeling of being back home again the first time I walk through the blue gate! I feel the same every time I go back.
Conan

kap · Post by **kap** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:59 am

So this is not necessarily my first space camp memory but its up there. I went to Space Camp Florida back in 96 or 97 and my flight was delayed coming home. So I spent an extra night at camp and left for the airport with another camper the next day. The counselor driving the van said we had to make a stop, she pulled over to the side of the road and we got out of the van up against this really long chain link fence. I'm thinking, what are we doing here? then we see it, she had pulled over so we could watch a shuttle launch. I remember seeing that thing burn up into orbit against the back drop of that bright blue Florida sky, I had never and have not since seen some thing so awe inspiring, its no wonder I'm now a sc/ac junkie.

bnaivar · Post by **bnaivar** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 8:43 am

My memory of my first Space Camp was in the old Endeavour Sim. The hatch to the flight deck had a hydraulic piston that opened and closed it. During our mission we lost contact with mission control. We just assumed it was an LOS that the SIM SUP had thrown in and kept going. A couple of minutes later our Counselor was trying to pry open the hatch against the pressure of the hydraulic piston shouting "Don't worry! We'll get you out soon!". It turned out that there was a power failure that just shut down the Mission Control area of the SIM. The Endeavour flight deck still had power but Mission Control didn't know it. They thought we were sitting inside a dark flight deck in a panic. We were still right on the time line.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 10:13 am

LOL ah yes the old Endeavour and in my opinion the only Endeavour no matter what they renamed Intrepid it wil never be Endeavour to me. That simulator was my first and only command at space camp though i was pilot twice.

JennieM · Post by **JennieM** » Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:07 pm

bnaivar wrote:My memory of my first Space Camp was in the old Endeavour Sim. The hatch to the flight deck had a hydraulic piston that opened and closed it. During our mission we lost contact with mission control. We just assumed it was an LOS that the SIM SUP had thrown in and kept going. A couple of minutes later our Counselor was trying to pry open the hatch against the pressure of the hydraulic piston shouting "Don't worry! We'll get you out soon!". It turned out that there was a power failure that just shut down the Mission Control area of the SIM. The Endeavour flight deck still had power but Mission Control didn't know it. They thought we were sitting inside a dark flight deck in a panic. We were still right on the time line.

Just curious, when did that happen?

bnaivar · Post by **bnaivar** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:21 pm

I don't remember the month, but it was during Adult Weekend Academy in 1990.

JennieM · Post by **JennieM** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:54 am

bnaivar wrote:I don't remember the month, but it was during Adult Weekend Academy in 1990.

That's when I first went too!!!

bnaivar · Post by **bnaivar** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:47 pm

I wondered that when I saw your sig.

Look in the Alumni section of the Space Camp web site. I've posted some of the pictures I took then. (Bill Naivar).

First Memory at space camp

I wish...