The HabForum

Anyone who is interested in the adult 8-day alumni programme, the next one will be 10-17 October 2009. I have a form that will get you $100 off. PM me for details.

I really wish I could go but our holiday plans for 2009 include Florida and Chicago. Fingers crossed for 2010!

Adult alumni 8 day? is this something new? Wish i could go but can't afford itr this year most likely.

I wish that I could go, but things like classes may get in the way. Oh, and the cost is probably still way too high for me.

They have been doing an adult alumni 8-day camp every year in October since I went to the first one in 2004!

There is a base group of people who go every year but it is open to any adult alumni who want to go.

PS - The cost is $1199 with the discount.

I knew their was a group of adults who pretty much went every year to a week long program i didnt realise it was officialy considered an alumni camp. It's not sopmething they seem to advertise.

Yeah, it is a rather discreet mention in the programme book, if at all, and it is tricky to find on the website registration as well, but it's there.

The group of adults who go every year is really great and it is guaranteed that anyone else who goes that week will have an incredible time. Next year there is word of doing a Klingon first contact during the 24-hour EDM. It is always interesting.

One of these days i want to go to an adult asa session wont be this year though, Whats bad is one complaint during all the alumni camps is they wer too short yet they dont advertise a long one like this and wonder why they have trouble getting alumni to sign

When I went to adult ASA in 2007, one of my team mates was one of the guys who had done the 8 day program a number of times. From reading some stuff on the web and talking with him, I think that's what I want to do when I go back next time (maybe 2010). The 6 day program does seem really short. One of the staff did mention the 8 day program during the 6 day program as options for things that people might want to do next time (should they decide to return) and some of the counselors talked about it. Although not all of them were complimentary of the attitude of all of the 8 day participants.

As for the "alumni" aspect, adult ASA is billed as "alumni only" although that's not enforced at all.

Does anyone know if the space programs are planning on being redone anytime soon? I missed a lot of the more academic aspects when I went to adult ASA (previously I'd had been in the Level I, Level II days). I was hoping for more of the "this is why we do this" rather than "do this procedure, flip these switches, etc".

gt0163c wrote:Although not all of them were complimentary of the attitude of all of the 8 day participants.

I can vouch for this, there were some 'moments' with some people that week but overall it was great. It was one of those moments that tied us up and prevented us from completing and testing our LEGO rovers - I was horribly disappointed but I got over it by the next day.

As for information at camp, the 8-day programme was more in-depth than any other session I have been to. We learnt about electrical sysems inside-and-out, got intricate diagrams of things, countless handouts (a binder-full) loaded with way more information than my technically-inclined and educated brain could handle, and since the team mates are really into shuttle systems we had some really deep and informative questions and answers. To give you an idea, one of my team mates from that week was building his own orbiter cockpit at home! Craziness. Another team mate worked on the team that made heat snks (I think) for the ISS so she could answer just about any question you could throw at her about those sorts of things. One guy brought in medical books for the flight surgeon, another brought in technical manuals from the shuttle, etc. It's intense.

That's not to say every 8-day camp is as informative or hand-out crazy but if you want to get into things beyond the superficial introductions in the 6-day programme, 8-day is the way to go.