The HabForum

What experiments did you get to do?

Sorry about my first message, I didn't realise it would actually turn into a 'message'. Don't mind me... I'll figure things out... eventually...

The reason I started this topic was to see if they still do experiments at camp. Not just "Let's see who we can duct tape to the wall/floor/chair/whatever" experiments, but real science ones.

In 1998 we did a fun experiment with a bunch of chemicals, some white glue, and food colouring. We made three different forms of "Gluep", and each colour had different properties - one was bouncy, one was sticky, one was similar to silly putty, or something along those lines. Did anyone else do this experiment? If so, do you recall the ingredients for it because I would love to do the same experiment again with a kid I am mentoring.

As a Payload Specialist in 1999 (I wanted to be MS again, but there were no spots available ) I also got to make Oobleck, a non-Newtonian substance in Spacehab. I have the instructions to make this stuff if anyone wants them.

In 1998 we also turned pennies from bronze to silver to gold using a hot plate and some zinc pellets, or maybe they were nickel, I don't remember. Did anyone else get to break the law and deface money at camp? <evil grin>

Has anyone else done any interesting science experiments while at camp?

Well at ASA in 98 i know their were several expirements that we were supose to do. But i honestly don't remember mine since our counselors gave us so many anomolies we didnt have time to do any of them. But then i was a pilot anyways so i think i only had one while i was on the space station and none on the shuttle. I remember at camp in 91 the PS's did something that suposedly exploded. Have no idea about 93.

We did several experiments while we were in the classrooms in HABII and the portable classrooms in addition to the ones we did during our missions.

Well of course i cant speak for the MS's or PS's on the team but the pilots sessions in the classrooms was all on flying. I seem to remember the MS's doing an egg drop one day thopugh.

Those poor eggs, I remember the PS's doing the egg thing too. We watched as they dropped them off the top floor of HABI onto the plastic-covered floor at the bottom. They killed breakfast, how dare they! We had a lot of classroom sessions together as a group. One of which we did in 1998 was some Kirsey (?) test for personality types. They took that out of the programme by 1999.

they actually tried bringing back the test this summer they tried it on my team and one other we complained it was boring though and i dont think they decided to keep using it

i dont remember what the first was called,but i had cornstarch and was really sticky..it wasnt ooblek cuz i know what that is . and i did another one, with ghram crackers and butter and sugar and alum orsomething..i dontremember what else but i broke it up and cooked it and it tasted like apples..that was kinda cool.. and wheni was in academy i put cream in a jar and shook it until it became butter. experiments at camp are fun,but the sheets we h ave to write then fax annoy the hell out of me.

We did the oobleck one last year.

Sara ate our experiment during the one hour mission.

those sheets are so much fun! i always tend to make it funny and not necessarily so true. i asked brent if they actually read them and he said yeah. though i know they do nothing about them. its not like they can fail you or something. anyhoo, i actually look forward to doing those more than doing the experiment!

oh yeah i ate it...in front of the camera...and then spilled it all over the floor...!!

i didnt eat the ghram cracker stuff cuz someone had a manic attack thing and i forgot about it on the shelf then it got kinda hard and gross. when imade butter the counselor tried to make me put some ona cracker and eat it and i freaked out. eating a glob of butter is just...gross and i cant handle gross like that.

For everyone who would like the recipe for US Space Camp's fake apple pie, please follow this link:

http://www.nasaexplores.com/show_58_stu ... 0521171041

Enjoy!

Now, if anyone has the recipe for 'Gluep' (three recipes, each a different colour with different properties, similar to silly putty, made with white glue and some other substances) I would really like the instructions!

For real, that stuff is sooooo good. And its not real apple pie either! Those crazy scientists...

lol.