Bottom Row(left to right): Ben, Josh, Clay. Jordan, yours truly, Tessa, Ryan, Samantha
On Sunday we quickly got in, got my stuff, dropped off my stuff by my bunk, and had orientation. In orientation we got with our group and James showed us around. We had a small presentation on our missions we were going to be doing during the week and went on the Mars Rock Climb. I wasn't wearing appropriate shoes so I had to sit out.
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| Watching everyone climb the rock wall |
Afterwards we had an okay dinner and had ANOTHER presentation where we talked about the basics of a space shuttle. We then went to our dorms, got dressed, and I called my Mom and updated her on all the information.
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| My new friend Samantha and I talking during our free time. |
All the girls woke up at least half an hour early for showers and they woke me up. It was annoying and as I learned later, I would be needing all the sleep I could get. We started out with a good breakfast. It seemed large to me but I would be needing all those calories. We had a quick presentation on life in space. It was very interesting and we learned bunch of fun facts. Like how you can't drink soda in space because lack of gravity would make it so you couldn't burp and you would have a major stomachache or vomit. Afterwards we watched a movie all about landing on the moon and all the emergencies and other things the astronauts experienced. We then went to the Astrotrek and built our rockets. It had an area for the explosives and the parachute but we didn't launch them until Wednesday.
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| Building rockets at Astrotrek |
We had a break for lunch and I ate almost all of it this time. After lunch we had briefing for our missions and I was chosen as mission scientist. My duty was to help the station commander with the checklist, measure some leaves, and perform an experiment. I chose to do the Polymer Foam experiment.
After briefing we went back to the Astrotrek and did the Gyro ball. I was the first one up because I was the most quiet. It was really fun and you can tell in the picture that my hair was flying. I did bang my ear a few times though. You can still just barely see the bruise two weeks later.
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| My hair is everywhere isn't it? |
After that we went to dinner which was hot dogs but not the best hot dogs I've ever eaten. When dinner was over we went to Area 51 where there were many activities for us to do. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do all of them. The first one was Maui to Kauai. Each group had a plank and we all had to work together to get to the other board. It took a lot of time but we did it.
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| Working on Maui to Kauai |
The next activity was whale watching. We had to get on a giant board that was like a seesaw. The objective was the stay only by the red line and when everyone was on we had to balance as long as possible. We lasted about four and a half minutes. It was pretty impressive.
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| We're all on and balanced and trying to stay that way for as long as we can |
Afterwards we all went back were dismissed to bed, I took a shower called my Mom and went to sleep almost immediately.
On Tuesday we were all excited for our mission. We weren't really paying attention to the presentation on Newton's Laws. It was all right though. After that we watched a movie about the space shuttle program. It was very interesting. We went on a few rides that were nice. The first one was G Force. You sat on a chair and got strapped in. You started spinning and the chair rose. The pressure on you was so great that you couldn't even move. At lunch we were so excited for the mission. We got on our jumpsuits that were way to big for us. During the mission there was a problem between the shuttle team and Mission Control. They were not communicating well. The International Space Station did perfectly.
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| Making my Polyeurate foam. |
After our mission we had a late dinner.We then discussed our mission together. The shuttle and mission control argued a lot. The International Space Station remained silent. After that we were assigned our new positions for the next mission. I was assigned Lunar Mission Specialist (LMS) Eight.We had another presentation on extra solar planets and the different attributes the beings might have. It was the best presentation all week. After that we went to our dorms, I called my Mom and went to sleep.
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| We are the only ones not arguing. |
On Wednesday we woke up on time and had breakfast. This morning's presentation we talked about space suits. We learned a bunch of acronyms and other interesting facts. The movie that day was about the Hubble. The pictures were amazing. Afterwards we had a swimming exercise. We had to get into four groups and attach multiple tubes to make a shape. It took my group a little while but it worked out.
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| The finished work. |
After we dried off we went to lunch. We then went to get our training for our next mission. As a Lunar Mission Specialist I had to do parts of a checklist. When we "landed" on the Lunar Base LMS's 5-8 had to go to the base and trade places with LMS's 1-4. Then we had to do more checklists and do some moon walking. After training we had the chance to go on some of the rides they have at the Space Center. It's kind of like a little amusement park. I didn't want to do Space Shot because I didn't like the idea of dropping from a super tall 140 foot tower, so I only went on G Force. Then we went "moon walking". We got in a seat and you can bounce in it. Here are a couple of pictures.
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| Very fancy, yes? |
We then had some dinner followed by a presentation on space junk and the problems it causes. We then split into groups and made a model of a lunar base.
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| I really want to answer that question. |
After the presentation we built a lunar base that we would present in the morning. We did some last minute studying as a group for the space bowl the next day. After that we played some Mafia and everyone always thought I was the bad guy even though I never was. They said it was because I'm a "soulless ginger!" We then went to bed and I quickly called my Mom. I conked out immediately.
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| We are having so much fun! |
We were determined to do better on Thursday's mission than we had done on Tuesday's mission. We ate our breakfast and went to another presentation. It was on all of the different space programs. After that we went to Astrotrek to do the 5 movements of space. (there are really 6 but you can't do the last one on earth because of gravity.) It was really fun.
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| We had to climb across a wall. |
We then worked on our team badge. Each space mission for NASA has the crew members design their own badge that they will wear on the space suits. We got to design our badge for Calypso but it took a long time because everyone had an idea of how they wanted it to look. In the end we all agreed on a badge that has a rocket flying from Huntsville with the name Calypso on it. We then had lunch. We got into the extra large jumpsuits again and did our mission. In the capsule we had a few emergencies but everything went smoothly. When we traded places we got into space suits. I had to "repair" a window. It was lots of fun. After that we watched Space Junk. It was very interesting. After the movie we had a presentation from a real astronaut. He had some amazing photographs. We had our final dinner. We then had Space Bowl. I think we had 4th place. Then we went to bed and I quickly called my Mom.
On Friday everyone was excited for graduation. Everyone had to pack up and drop off their stuff at the Astrotrek. My group played Mafia while we waited for it to be time for graduation. After playing for at least an hour, we went to graduation. I got a Calypso badge that had all of our last names on it. My group also won the Commander's Cup. That means we got the most points as a group on the different challenges, missions, and activities. It was an amazing week and I was sad to say good-bye.
It sounds like you had a blast! You are so lucky to have had that experience!
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