The HabForum

Good Day all:

I am thinking of attending the Adult Advanced Academy in September/October 2004. I do not know if I CAN go yet, but I'm trying to get more information on it. I know Kemara from this site has attended this programme several times, and Richasi has been to the 3-day Adult Academy programme. Maybe you guys, and everyone slse, will be able to answer a few of my questions:

1. Where are the Adult Advanced Academy 'trainees' housed? HAB I, II, or the hotel next door?

2. Is the 8-day Adult Advanced Academy similar to the 8-day youth Advanced Academy such that there is a 24-hour EDM with (pending) extended SCUBA opportunities? Is there anything else special about the 8-day Adult Advanced Academy over the 7-day version?

3. What are the major differences, if any, between the youth and adult Advanced Academy programmes?

4. What stage will the training floor renovations be at in September 2004?

Anyway, just wondering if someone out there on HAB1 has some answers... I really want to go, and the more information I know, the better. (And the more information I can give my beau to convince him to come too!)

Thanks!

Well i can answer some of that based on talking to Kemara and others who have gone. Adult ASA trainees are housed in Hab 1 just like regular ASA trainees. However if you want to pay for the hotel then you do have the option of staying their.

As for the 8 day program i don't know since i didnt know they were doing an 8 day adult program.

Some other diffrences i've heard of in the past were a Steak and Eggs breakfast before the EDm like the astronauts get, a cake with the team mission patch design on it like the astronauts for the EDM, and more freedom to come and go. I've heard of adult trainees going to the hotel bar next door at night. So lights out doesn't mean much in the adult program.

Again this is just some of the stuff i heard. Some may have changed.

Basically, the 3-day ASA program is a watered down version of the 5-day Space Academy program for younger folks. You have your 2 missions, your quick training and the imax movies. Otherwise, it's Space Camp level type stuff.

The Advanced Adult Space Academy is much more indepth. I've never reached that level either as a kid or adult, but I hope to soon.

You are housed in Hab 1, however, if you want to pay the room rate over at the Mariott, you're welcome to do so. If you want a good night's rest you might want to think about doing that... or, just take a pilow, and a good blanket

Re: the 8-day Adv. Adult session...from what the counselors have said in e-mails to my team from 2003, it will be the same thing as what the kids are getting...24 hour EDM and all.

As for the 5-day adult program in general, I'd say it's very similar to the kid's sessions as far as what goes on, but everything is geared for adults. In lectures you can learn just as much from the others on your team as from the people giving the talks...one person might be an engineer and have personal experience with the subject being discussed. Someone else might be a pilot in real life.

As Jason said, adults do get a steak and eggs breakfast and a cake with your patch on it...that's supposed to be surprise so don't tell your team mates. Sometimes, you get better food for lunch and dinner than the kids who are also there that week (grilled chicken instead of hot dogs). The schedule is very tight, but you have more freedom -- if you want to skip a lecture or an elective activity like Area 51 or rocketry, you can. Your badge will get you in and out of the complex at any time of the day or night...unless you're visibly drunk.

The counselors make sure that you're challenged, but also that you have plenty of fun. I've never laughed more than my 3 EDMs. 2003 was the best year yet with all of the new things they started. The Robotics competition was awesome! You can "Abort to Otter's" after hours, but I've always been too tired!

I'm not going to Camp this year, but hopefully I'll be back in 2005 with Richasi -- if he every decides to stay put instead of larking all over the world! If you have any other questions you're welcome to e-mail me at [email protected]. I always love talking about Camp with anyone who will listen. I drive my co-workers crazy!

Does anyone know if the Early Arrival/Late Departure option is available for adult camps? I recall Richasi mentioning he got to roam around Sproket Park before people got there, but was that for EALD or something else? I ask because a friend of mine (and hopefully myself) will be going to Adult ASA in the autumn. It is not listed on the registration form, so I'm a little confused... I remember some adult people on the bus with me to the airport for late departure, but that was in 1999, things may have changed since then.

Update: I e-mailed camp and they said the EALD option was not offered for adults. We're both too young to rent a car, and I'm not too sure about hotel shuttles around there, but how would one get to camp if it was impossible to arrive in the morning on the day of registration?

(I guess it is cheaper for two adults to rent a room at the hotel than to pay 158$ USD for EALD.)

Don't mind me... I'm talking to myself... but if anyone has any comments, please share... (unless they're comments on my sanity, of which I have none, I know!)

I'm surprised that EALD isn't an option for the adult programs.

At any rate, just do yourself a favor and stay at the Marriott. Not only can you request that your room face the USSRC, but they also have available transportation to and from the airport (and probably anywhere else you need to go).

...or if either you or your friend is eligible to join the IEEE, a membership allows you to rent a car from AVIS if you're 18 or older.

GREAT NEWS EVERYONE!!

If all goes as planned (and my work approves the time off) I will be attending the Adult Advanced Academy programme with a friend of mine from Edmonton on 29 August to 03 September 2004.

By the looks of it, the Adult ASA programme is the only one running that week! The camp could be near-empty, which would be a great bonus.

I shall keep everyone posted with updates if things change.

PS - Do you think if the camp is nearly vacant that we might go to the AC lake and try out some of their aquatic activities, or is that only done by youth ASA programmes?

EVEN BETTER NEWS!!

I just got off the telephone with a nice lady with a southern accent at the registrations desk. I am officially registered!

29 August to 03 September 2004, Mission Specalist

<insert happy dance here>

As I type I get a phone call... Uh oh... my friend called to register 30 seconds after I did and they said the session was cancelled... This is NOT good... They told her there were only spots available the week after. However, the website says the week after is fully booked for MS's.

I booked, she could not... very strange...

<insert baffled and confused expressions here>

Update: the week has not been cancelled, the lady my friend talked to was referring to the youth programme for the week, not the adult programme. Thank goodness we got that settled out.

that's good that it wasn't really canceled.
its even better that you're getting a chance to go back to space camp!
i can't wait to hear all about it.

A Question for counsellors or adult ASA alumni:

Typically, how many people are on an adult ASA team? Are there usually squabbles over who gets what position for which mission? I only ask because both my friend Elaine and I want to do the MS2 "Peter Pan". (I'll let her do it if there is only one spot available, of course!)

Also, is it really that common for people to opt out of things like Area 51 and rocketry? I mean, those are some of my favourite activites next to SCUBA diving! Who would want to miss out on anything?

PS - The adult 6-day Aviation Challenge programme will be the same week as the adult ASA programme. I wonder if that will hinder us from using the AC facilities as much as Kemara had mentioned. I hope not!

I think the teams are the same size as advanced academy - which is 16, 8 pilots and 8 mission specialists. As for skipping activities when I was at Christmas Camp one person convinced a bunch of others that Area 51 was dumb so only 4 people from that team did it. If there were youth camps that week the adults would get the night missions. (My team had Thursday morning)

Thanks Laura. I wonder how the 8 PLTs and 8 MSs will work. I'll find out soon enough. When I rang camp a month ago they said there were 4 MS positions left and I forget how many pilots. The week doesn't seem to be filling up very fast. We could have a group with as few as 7 or 8 people!

It seems very strange that we would be the only group using the Space Camp campus and TCF. Unless there is a school group or corporate group, we might have a very flexible schedule. I wonder if we could somehow convince them to let us do a 12-hour EDM or something... hmmm... I doubt it, but I can dream!

(Both my EDMs for ASA were Thursday evening because we ate supper during our break. There was an adult group in 1999 but I think they did their EDM before us. I'm sure it's just a scheduling thing.)

It will be so odd for the campus to be so empty... I will write a detailed journal and share it with everyone (with heaps of pictures) when I return.

46 more sleeps until I arrive in Huntsville and 47 until registration!
Let the count-down begin...

* I'm stoked! *

I know Adult ASA isn't anything quite as special as your 8-day camps, but if anyone wants an update, read on:

I rang Space Camp a few moments ago to confirm some things. Anyway, I asked how many people were registered for my week and I was completely floored. Can you believe that there are ONLY SIX (you read right, SIX!!!) people registered, including my friend and I? Oddly enough, they are all enrolled as Mission Specialists! Yikes, who is going to fly that bird?

Well, the good news is that the registrar said the camp would still run with six people. But really... SIX, that just seems too few to make a camp run well. Really, two people in mission control and four in the shuttle or station for the EDM would be so slow... Somewhat disappointing...

On the bright side, a smaller group means more time on the simulators.

I don't know if that makes me more or less excited about camp.

I really hope more people will register in the next 40 days. The programme would be so much better with more people!!!

They have run regular ASA with only four people...just ask lyn (Space Nerd) !

in April my team at ac would've only been 5 people had it not been for a school group of australians.

How would a camp work with so few people?

The counsellors fill in some of the extra positions. For our delta mission we were all in station so Tony took over as Mission Scientist.

and at ac you have to have an even number so everybody has a pilot or a rio... i think having to fly with a counselor would make me nervous that id mess up something