The HabForum

Hi everyone,

I am on the grounds here at The Space & Rocket Center, killing time until this evenings Space Explorers reunion. Originally, I had set aside this time to be here for the now-cancelled Hall Of Fame event, so it's not nearly as exciting to be here. Nonetheless, I will share my adventure so far.

I checked into the Marriott to find the lobby under renovations. Apparently there are plans to remodel everything including our beloved watering hole, Otters! I will find out more about that this evening after the dinner.

After check-in, I headed over to Sprocket. At the ticket counter, i finally picked up my "passport to explore space" which I hope to get at least a few more stamps over the next year or so. Google it to find out how to get one.

There are some new exhibits under construction. When you first enter the museum there is a new video showing a launch sequence of the new SLS and Orion that's pretty good. That's all that's there for now. Not sure what they have planned for this area. However, over in the Davidson Center, a large and exciting new Apollo CSM and LM simulation is being built with realistic looking cockpit controls and graphics. The original Apollo simulators are also getting a more fitting display built around them. I will post pictures later.

Out in the rocket park, the T-38 is sitting on the port side of the Pathfinder next to the Astrotrek building. The aircraft is displayed with the aft section holding the engine nozzles removed. Pictures also to follow.

ATK representatives are set up in the training center and the Davidson Center handing out SLS swag. I told them I was here originally for the Hall Of Fame and they seemed to be equally as disappointed about the cancellation and promised things would be much better next year. While speaking with the ATK folks, three campers who just died during an EDM walked up with their crew trainer. They were killed when a tornado hit mission control and were instructed that they had to do something embarrassing in order to come back to life and complete their mission. So, they had to sing "I'm a little teapot" and do all of the hand gestures while we filmed it. Funny stuff. The mission anomalies have gotten a lot wackier since back in my day!

International camps are in full effect. The teams are indeed mixed with both American and foreign trainees as Street said, although I did see a team of Camp kids that was all Asian. I noticed a few Asian kids wearing germ masks. I wasn't nosy enough to ask why! I only saw a handful of ASA aged kids and they all appeared to be American. Team sizes seemed to be somewhere around 18 or 20 kids.

I took a closer look at the vending machines since some of our new forum members who are attending next week were curious. Dippin' Dots are $3.00. Sodas are $2.25. Chips are $.75 and candy is $1.00. And there is an interesting new robot frozen yogurt machine that's $6.00 and takes credit cards but it was broken and from what I'm told breaks down a lot. Still working out the bugs I guess. The one sample I saw with m&ms and sprinkles looked pretty good though!

Kale, still no action on the A-12 display. The ol' bird is still sitting in front of the gift shop and there's no sign of construction out by the entrance.

Well, time to go get ready for tonight's festivities. Hoping the barbecue is as good as last years! I'll have more news later and eventually some pictures. You can also follow me on Facebook, look up Abort To Otters.

Thanks for great update. Looking forward to the pictures. If u are going to ride bus tour Friday, if you see anything new please update. Thanks, have a great time!

Thanks for the update. Sounds like there'll be a big difference between my SC session this fall from the same time the previous year. As fast as they get things done there, I'm assuming these changes will be in effect by the time I get there.
Otters seriously needed remodeling, it looked like the set of a 1980s movie in there.
As for that "passport to explore space," I wish they'd had this a few years ago. I've been to almost every NASA facility in the US, but most recently last fall when I hit JSC at Houston again, right after my last SC visit. If I'd had one a few years back, it'd be pretty impressive to look at by now.

Great update, the "passport to explore space" sounds pretty cool.

It's 12:30 and I'm back in my room after an eventful night. I've had so much fun that I've decided to stay until Sunday! So expect to see ol' Hotdog wondering around Sprocket and the Marriott the next few days.

There was probably only about a 60% turn out for the Space Explorers reunion this year. There were a few empty tables. I shared a table with representatives from the Huntsville Times and got to know them a bit. The barbecue seemed to taste better than last year and the staff was very proud of it. There was a cash beer and wine bar, but no liquor this time. Dr. Barnhart was not in attendance, she is in DC accepting the NASA distinguished service award, the highest award given out to a non-NASA employee. Mike Flachbart was our emcee and the executive director of Aerojet Gene Goldman made some remarks before Dr. Dale Thomas came on to talk about the goings-on at Marshall and the future of NASA. One of the coolest things he talked about was the use of 3D printing to quickly produce rocket parts and how it speeds up the development process. He even mentioned a plan that called for an entire rocket built from 3D printed parts to launch small microsats. Flachbart then came back on to announce that the Red Bull suborbital space jump vehicle would be in Huntsville on August 8th on its way to the Smithsonian, and later in the year we would have a traveling exhibit featuring Leoanrdo Davinci (November 2). I plan to return for those events.

After the ceremony, I just so happened to notice that the new Apollo docking and lunar landing sims were functional. So, I tried my hand at them and successfully docked with the LEM and landed the LEM on my first attempts. The sims are from Binary Star (same as the shuttle landing sim next to the UAT) so I highly recommend putting them on Expert skill level if you want anything close to a realistic simulation. It's a very neat setup though, with two stations for landing the LEM and two stations for docking the CSM/LM.

So after playing around on the new sims for awhile I slowly made my way to Otters. I am sad to report that Otters will be closing its doors as soon as the Marriott completes its new lobby. There will be a small bar in the new lobby and the area where Otters is will become a private party room. You can say what you want about Otters needing a facelift, but the new bar will be just that, a bar sitting in the middle of a hotel lobby. No pool table, no booths, no ambiance, no character. Just a place to order up a drink to take back to your room. I hope I'm wrong, but this is the picture that was painted for me. The fact of the matter is, Otters will be no more and a piece of unofficial Space Camp history and culture will be history.

While at Otters tonight, I met a couple of videographers from Nashville who were helping to shoot a documentary for PBS on the space shuttle due to air in January. So keep your eyes open for that.

That's all I have to report for tonight. Since I am sticking around, I will try to keep this little impromptu "blog" going thoughout the weekend! (If I can find a charger for my IPad)

Thank you for the update!

No more Otters, huh? Such a shame. That said, how many SA campers have stumbled through security, three-sheets to the wind after being over there? I know I had to get a couple of campers by that desk the final night at Huntsville last fall. I've wondered how many people have had to stumble back to the Marriot because they'd gotten too bombed at Otters to be let back into the HAB?

Looking forward to seeing the Red Bull jump exhibit when I go back this fall...

The Red Bull jump exhibit will be there until the end of September I think.

So I was late heading back over to the Rocket Center today. I might have stayed up a bit too late last night. There were 3 police cars sitting outside when I arrived at the entrance around 3:00. I never found out why. I didn't see anything on the news tonight so maybe just serving a warrant or something? Who knows.

Sprocket was a lot busier today over yesterday. I saw a parent/child group that I didn't see yesterday, along with the international kids I saw before. The ATK folks were still around as well. The gift shop was busy! I bought a shirt with the old space camp logo on it, but couldn't find that NASA worm logo sticker I've been trying to find.

As I made my way over in the heat to the Davidson, I made sure to plot my course to go underneath the Saturn 1 so I could cool off under the mist of the first stage engines. I was met there by a security guard who was not allowing people to walk under the rocket. It seems a raccoon had found his way into the rocket and they were worried that the raccoon would get loose in the rocket park and run amok and claw up some kid or something. I would have sooner guessed a skunk would be the culprit, but I guess they are all too busy trying to infiltrate the Hab! I was going to snap a picture of the little rascal but about that time the guy from Critter Catchers showed up to diffuse the situation. Only in Huntsville!

When I got back to the Davidson, I was disappointed to find my favorite new exhibit, the Voyage To The Moon simulator roped off and back under construction. I guess when I got to play around on it yesterday it wasn't quite ready yet. I should have known something was up when I noticed that the window video screens displaying the computer simulation were not formatted to fit the triangle windows of the LEM. So I spent most of the rest of the afternoon just taking pictures.

An update on the vending machines: the new soft serve machine was working when I walked by and campers seemed happy with the experience. However, one of the two dippin' dots machines was out of order.

After closing down Sprocket, it was ATO time again. Otters seemed more like "just another hotel bar" tonight since the only other patrons were down for either a wedding or a family reunion. I decided to retire early tonight so I can get a full day in tomorrow before heading back home on Sunday.

To be continued....

Hotdog wrote: When I got back to the Davidson, I was disappointed to find my favorite new exhibit, the Voyage To The Moon simulator roped off and back under construction. I guess when I got to play around on it yesterday it wasn't quite ready yet. I should have known something was up when I noticed that the window video screens displaying the computer simulation were not formatted to fit the triangle windows of the LEM. So I spent most of the rest of the afternoon just taking pictures.

That was probably my fault, they put the barricade up shortly after I accidentally wandered into the work area this afternoon.

Oh drats, the Red Bull Stratos exhibit was originally supposed to be at the USSRC until mid-October. The new dates are 08 August to 01 October. I wonder why they cut the engagement short? I'll miss it by two days.

It sounds like thing have changed so much since I was there last! I cannot wait to explore the USSRC and Davidson Center in October!

Also, does anyone know what happened to the Orion mockup that was in the Davidson Center?

The Orion mockup was sent to Israel for the "Space Mania" exhibit in Tel Aviv. That exhibit ends in October. I'm hoping we get it back then. I used it for my history briefings for "the future"

And Hotdog: I was the counselor with the "dead" trainees. They had died walking into an electrical wire. Have to watch your step after a storm!

I am back home now from my extended weekend at Sprocket! I ended up staying for the International Space Camp opening ceremony on Saturday night, which was a first for me. For some reason I was thinking it was Sunday and I would miss it, but I just so happened to run into Hall Of Famer Dan Oates (who just-so-happened to be staying in the room next to mine at the Marriott) and he clued me in to what was going on. The ceremony was a lot more fun and interesting than I thought it would be! Teachers and students from 10 countries and 49 states dressed in costumes and gave presentations about where they were from. It was interesting to hear them describe where they were from and I maybe even learned a little bit too. Dr. Barnhart was back to introduce the event and Hoot said a few words before the teachers and students were brought in for their presentations. There was even a free barbeque dinner afterwards (probably Thursday's leftovers) but I headed back over to the Marriott to meet up with some of the Hall Of Famers by the pool. All in all, it was a great trip down and I'm looking forward to coming back in a couple of weeks to see the Felix Baumgarter Red Bull exhibit when it passes through on its way to the Smithsonian.

Now, as promised, here are some pictures!

The NASA T-38 next to Pathfinder in the Shuttle Park:







Here is the new DreamChaser model in the Davidson Center:





From the Space Explorer's Reunion at The Davidson Center on Thursday night:









The refreshed Apollo CSM and LM trainer exhibit:





The new "Voyage To The Moon" interactive exhibit and sims (complete with docking adapter artifact)









From the International Space Camp opening ceremony on Saturday:















Some miscellaneous photography around the place:













The new soft serve robot vending machine:



Window self portrait!



Window self portrait!

Great photos Hotdog, thanks for all the updates!!