I've created a long blog post that is an overview of my camp time on my website: http://www.thalimer.com. There are also a ton of pictures on there as well. So instead of flooding up this post, I ask that you just head over there.
I wanted to add some things that people here would be more interested in that I didn't go into detail in my overview since general public aren't quite as geeky into Space Camp as we are here at Hab1.
12 Day Adult ASA in 2010: I overheard several times from the staff that this is quite possible BUT they have to have the bodies (and likewise, the money) to back it up. 8 Day ASA is a very special week for the staff and they look very forward to it, and if a counselor gets assigned to the group, it's quite an honorable position. They understand the geekiness and would be happy to offer a 12 day program, but they need to know that is what people would want and would attend.
Changes on the floor: You may have heard rumblings about new things going on at the floor at camp. It's true! We did get a special overview of what's coming up. While we were there, the module formerly known as Kibo was being destroyed right there on the floor, and being placed into a dumpster. It was a sad few days for a lot of the staff as that was one of the original station modules (and the one that Mary-Kate and Ashley had signed when they did their movie there). Discovery had been moved out and had a tarp thrown over it when we arrived, and by the end of the week had been moved back inside where the old modules had been on the far wall that were now gone.
So what's coming? The staff have been planning for quite some time, and despite what may happen in the Augustine Report, they've decided to go ahead and convert about 1/4 of the floor into an actual moon landscape. The old Discovery simulator will be turned into an Orion simulator that will be used during the moon missions. There will also be a moon habitat for the moon missions. There should also be some missions on the surface, but they aren't sure how that will work yet, or what they will do for the actual surface material. Eventually they will only be keeping 1 shuttle simulator for those types of missions, and moving completely over to the Orion model. They expect the moon floor and habitat to be complete and ready for shakedown by next year's Adult ASA. Of course, this is all subject to change, but they seem pretty confident, and work was moving pretty quickly while we were there.
What was special: The 8 day Adult ASA is indeed a special week. The counselors often remark that this group gets to do things that no other group of the year gets to do. This year was no exception.
We had a gentleman from Orion Propulsion come and set off an acetate rocket engine right outside the Challenger Auditorium. It was pretty awesome, bright, and loud.
Irene, everyone's favorite archivist, allowed the group into the hardware archives where we got to wander for awhile and actually touch hardware and real space suits! There were some that dated back to Mercury, but they were too high up to touch. The ones from Apollo were pretty awesome, and had to take a few snaps for my Jim Lovell space buddy at work as I found a Lovell suit. Apparently this was one of the rarest opportunities that campers have ever had.
The group was in awe when given the rundown of the Long Duration Mission that they had designed a scenario that they had NEVER done at camp before. They were right! Enterprise went up to dock on the station...we transferred to station and got a solar flare anomaly and had to evacuate to Columbus node. When we got back, we had a cracked LiOH canister and had to fashion an Apollo 13-like contraption. Then there was a meteor shower, another evacuation and upon starting the station back up again (I was Station Scientist), the Station Commander got electrocuted (therefore I was promoted), and we learned the Enterprise had been hit, had to be abandoned, and they were sending up Atlantis with a 2 person crew (2 from MOCR). Upon hearing this we had a major medical anomaly with the Enterprise Commander where she was so depressed about having to jettison the Enterprise that she tried to hijack Atlantis. The crew was able to sedate her enough, and the electrocuted team member got transferred onto Atlantis to ride home with the rest of the Enterprise crew. It was a wild LDM! As Station Commander, I chose to sleep on board Freedom as I knew it was a very rare opportunity!
Okay, so if anyone has any other questions, feel free to shoot! I had a total blast, and even though I was a rookie, the veterans really made me feel at home and happy. 8 Day ASA is NOT a vacation, but a very interactive and thinking journey. I am very glad I was able to attend.
Signing off,
Todd "Chopper"
