Question from first time

[Eyesangela]

What are the different positions and role for those positions on missions in Adult Space camp? What was your favorite role?

[SpaceCanada]

Reading from my camp notes from October:

For (Enterprise*) shuttle-space station missions:

SHUTTLE:
Pilot (PLT)
Commander (CDR)
Mission Specialist 1 (MS1)
Mission Specialist 2 (MS2)

SPACE STATION
Space Station Commander (SSCDR)
Station Scientist
Flight Engineer 1 (FE1)
Flight Engineer 2 (FE2)

MISSION OPERATIONS CONTROL ROOM (MOCR)
Flight Director (FLIGHT)
Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO)
Spacecraft Communicator (CAPCOM)
Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems Engineer (GNC)
Payload Command Coordinator (PAYCOM)
Extravehicular Activity Officer (EVA)
Electrical Generation and Illumination Engineer (EGIL)
ElEctrical, Environmental and Consumables Manager (EECOM)

* I am not sure if other shuttle simulators have the exact same mission positions, but they will be very close. There also may be more or less positions based on the number of people on your team and where they have been allocated.

For Mars missions:

MISSION CONTROL (These may not be entirely accurate)
Mission Operations Director
System Operations Communicator
Public Affairs Officer (PAO)
Payload Command Coordinator (PAYCOM)
Instrumentation and Communications Officer (INCO)

OURANOS BASE
Environmental Specialist 1
Environmental Specialist 2
Flight Engineer 1
Flight Engineer 2

ORION CAPSULE/MARS ELYSIUM BASE (MEB)
Commander
Pilo Communication Specialist
Digital Data Technician 1
Digital Data Technician 2
Digital Data Technician 3

Moon missions are slightly different yet again, if they still do them.

As for which positions are best, it depends on your personality and what you like to do... My husband enjoys piloting the shuttle whereas I prefer doing the science stuff. No position is really better than any other in that sense. You will enjoy any position you get if you come into the mission with the right attitude. When in doubt, break out the chicken dance and everything will be fine...

[gt0163c]

Those are the positions I remember from my time at Adult ASA last October. But, the Mars/Moon mission positions may change as those simulations evolve. And some positions, usually in mission control, are combined if you don't have a full team.

Personally, I enjoy being in mission control. I'm not a pilot or a button pusher/switch flipper, so I don't get excited about shuttle pilot/commander positions. The science stuff is kinda fun as is "flying around" in the harness during EVAs. But, mostly, I like to solve problems. And that mostly happens in mission control. I was flight director for our LDM (long duration (12 hour) mission) and I really, really enjoyed that. But it's definitely not a position everyone would like. Lots of responsibility. Lots of managing other people and the many, many things that are going on at one time (at one point I had to keep a running list of what people were where as the station/shuttle crew was changing over, a couple of my mission controllers were in the UAT coming up with a solution for a problem on the station and the rest of my controllers had shifted around to cover their positions).

[Conan]

I have done several positions in the past. My favorite has always been Mission Specialist because I like doing the EVAs and fixing things. Also, on a long duration mission, you do half on the orbiter and half in the space station, so you get to be MS1 or 2, or Space Station Specialist 1 or 2. Sometimes you do EVAs in both places. When you aren't doing EVAs you still have checklists in the orbiter and experiments on the Station so you get a lot of different experiences.

[p51]

I have noticed in years past that sometimes, they don't have enough people for all those MOCR positions and often, people will have to double up on duties in mission control.

For Mars missions:

Public Affairs Officer (PAO)

Seriously? A public relations officer? What manner of "public" do they deal with?
It would be cool if they had spectators that interacted with a PAO for the people who are walking by the entrance to the training floor when a mission is running. Could have monitors facing outward and the PAO has to explain what's going on...

[gt0163c]

For Mars missions:
Public Affairs Officer (PAO)

Seriously? A public relations officer? What manner of "public" do they deal with?
It would be cool if they had spectators that interacted with a PAO for the people who are walking by the entrance to the training floor when a mission is running. Could have monitors facing outward and the PAO has to explain what's going on...

From what I understand, that's similar to the plan going forward. In a focus group after camp last October, when we brought up the PAO position in the Mars mission, they said that eventually they plan to have monitors throughout the museum broadcasting the press releases from the PAO. Not sure how much interaction they will have, but it won't be the PAO just briefing to an empty room.

[Conan]

I was the Public Affairs Officer for the Mars mission last October. But I also had a second MOCR position, EGIL, I think. Anyway, if they do what they said in the focus group, it will be much more interesting. I had to write up short press releases throughout the mission and go to a podium outside of the MOCR and make the announcement. Problem was, there wasn't anyone there to hear it, except once or twice one of the space ghosts ran out and pretended to be a reporter. But several times there was no one at all. Not particularly exciting.

[majtom7]

I did something similar except I had to conduct crew interviews. Since I had captive audience in MOCR, I had as much fun with it as I could

My favorite was being in MOCR when Dr, Barnhart came in with a TV crew...and the Flight Director asked her what the hell was she doing in her control room? LOL

[p51]

I was the Public Affairs Officer for the Mars mission last October. But I also had a second MOCR position, EGIL, I think. Anyway, if they do what they said in the focus group, it will be much more interesting. I had to write up short press releases throughout the mission and go to a podium outside of the MOCR and make the announcement. Problem was, there wasn't anyone there to hear it, except once or twice one of the space ghosts ran out and pretended to be a reporter. But several times there was no one at all. Not particularly exciting.

Yeah, that sounds about like I'd imagined it

My favorite was being in MOCR when Dr, Barnhart came in with a TV crew...and the Flight Director asked her what the hell was she doing in her control room? LOL

That sure was hilarious when I heard about it (for everyone, majtom and I were on the same team in 2014). I was crew on that mission, don't recall if it was the Orion Lunar mission or the LDM on the Enterprise sim...
Cooler still was when Dr. Barnhart came down to the crew chow hall at breakfast that morning when that segment aired on TV and the monitors had it on. So cool that our teammate who gave the good Doctor, "what for," got into the shot as well. You can see a scene capture I took of that segment at 3:09 on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klYM0S6UNjM

[Boomerang]

I always felt the PAO position at camp was pointless. I mean in the real world they are comnetating for NASA television and whoever ma be watching it. At Space Camp they are giving a running commentary for no one. I think their are other MOCR positions that could replace it and have a real purpose just my opinion. I was greatful to never be put in the PAO spot when I was in MOCR.

I also remember a similar story to when Dr. Barnhardt came in with a tv crew and flight was giving her a hard time for being in his control room. This story was when I was a crew trainer. I worked AC but had a lot of friends space side. I was working in Trainee services one night and went to take my dinner break. One of the ASA team leaders a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to have a little fun with their ASA team during one of their missions. I said sure why not. So MOCR had a gas leak. The trainees call me back in the sims pit which is now gone I answer with my best i'm having a bad day gas man voice and tell them i'll get there when I get there. I show up and start demanding payment up front or i'm not going to do a darn thing to fix the leak. I had every trainee in the room scrambling looking for money to pay me while i'm being the crotchety customer service nightmare. and ofcourse in the course of all this I also have a heart attack and give them a medical anomaly to deal with too. The ASA trainers said it was one of the funniest things they'd ever seen. I wish i'd had another chance to do it that summer but never did. I really wish their was video of it.