Anyone going to the Adult Advanced Academy starting on 10/31?

[AdmiralMike]

I'm going to be going to my first expedition next week and was wondering if anyone from the forums was going to be attending? It would be great to meet some of you there!

[p51]

I don't know anyone who's going but please tell us all how it went!

[AdmiralMike]

Will do! Right now, I'm excited, nervous, a little stressed about the MAT (watched my oldest pass out on one once at Wisconsin Dells) and the UAT, but mostly just really pumped to get down there!

[AdmiralMike]

So, I got back last night. There is so much to unpack emotionally from week. It was everything that I was hoping it would be and more. 39 years of waiting paid off and then some! I will have many more thoughts and will post a complete wrap up of my trip. Aside from all of the wonderful adventure of it, my main takeaway was the wonderful friendships I acquired. My team, the glorious Team Magellan, became as tight knit a group as there. By the end of the week, we already had a Facebook group for our team and are talking about reunions. I know that these people will remain with me always.

[p51]

Mike,
I'm so happy for you!
Neat team photo, too.

[majtom7]

WOW! Small group! LUCKY!!! Everyone is involved in the action that way, no make work positions.

[AdmiralMike]

Yeah, we had such a great group too! We only had one member who was...less than a team player. Seems all he wanted to do was slip out of camp and get stoned all day. No training, no sims. Whatever..more fun for the rest of us! As for my missions, I got nearly all of the positions I wanted! On Alpha mission, I was MS2, so I was on the EVA to repair the WESTAR satellite. (My hips my never stop aching from the hanging harness though..LOL). I was CAPCOM for Bravo Mission, though due to Mr. Stoner being AWOL, I also had to fill in as EGIL as well. Then for the EDM mission to Mars, I was the CDR of the mission! That was a hell of a great time, even with all of the anomalies! That is also where I picked up my callsign. Our SOCOM for the mission started acting erractically just as we were touching down on Mars and just as we were entering Elysium Base had a breakdown. She then shouts out over comms that she's pregnant...and that I'm the father! I guess the Mission Control cameras caught my Deer in the Headlights look and the Trainers busted out laughing for about two minutes straight. They later said that it was going down in their anomalies hall of fame book! The next day during my 1/6 G chair run, my trainer came up to me and told me that the trainers had gotten together and decided that my callsign would be 'Babydaddy', if that was okay with me. As I have 4 kids at home, and one of the things I really wanted at camp was to get a callsign, I said 'sure'!

There is so much more to talk about..and I plan on doing a full right up of it, but this was really one of the best weeks of my life!

[majtom7]

Looks like you got to use Orion 2..

[AdmiralMike]

Actually, that's Orion 1. Orion 2 has been dedicated to the lunar mission for the kids camps, which is too bad, because it has the higher fidelity simulator. Though, Orion 1 is still a good ship and Altair was fun as well!

[p51]

So cool you got a callsign. Most don't their first time.
Is that you in the Endeavour hat? If so, can you post a good shot of the patches on your jacket?

[Hotdog]

Love the anomaly/callsign story! May be the first and only person with Babydaddy as a callsign.

[AdmiralMike]

So cool you got a callsign. Most don't their first time.
Is that you in the Endeavour hat? If so, can you post a good shot of the patches on your jacket?

The patches for the most part are the standard ones that come with the jacket. I added two. The first being a nametag that I had made from nametags4u.com. The other is a patch from the Shuttle Launch Experience at Kennedy Space Center. I went on that twice. Once in 2009 and again in 2017. Astronauts have said that the SLE is as close as you can get to being on a shuttle launch while staying on the ground so I consider that my first "mission"

[p51]

I am quite familiar with the Shuttle Launch Experience at KSC. It is amazing, and I went on it two good friends from Space Camp, about a day before we hopped on a plane bound for Huntsville.

[AdmiralMike]

Nice! The first time I went on it, it was with my oldest kid. The second time, years later, I flew solo. The last moment, when the payload bay doors open and you're suspended by your straps..breathtaking!