Day 6

Friday- Well, the time has come to say Goodbye to one another and our 5 astronauts (and myself) are worn out, but going to definitely miss all of the fun we've had here in Huntsville. I came down to meet the students on the bottom level of the "habitat" and they were already exchanging numbers and email addresses with hearing and deaf friends from around the world and promising to stay in touch. It was quite impressive to see 11-17 year old students emote the way these students were. Meeting new friends, bonding in a week's time by the common goal of completing their various missions and team-building activities.

Breakfast continued the Goodbyes, hugs and pictures, and then Team Aldrin headed to the Davidson Center to graduate! Team Von T. and Team Atlas trod down to do a few more team activities and wait until their graduation at 11.

A warm welcome followed by the news that a "Special Guest" would be honoring our presence began the graduation and we (at least I) were thrilled to know that Harrison Schmitt (U.S. geologist, NASA astronaut, professor, Senator, ONE OF THE LAST 3 MEN TO WALK ON THE MOON) would be joining us and giving a short motivational word. Cameraflashes lit the area below the Saturn module Schmitt flew 35 years ago that we were sitting under while he spoke. He shared some laughs and brilliant memories, but most importantly shared the idea that, "we can" regardless of limitations we think we have or the world tells us we have.

I sat, squatted, paced, tweaked, bent and jumped over various people and postures to get pictures as Lee and his crew waltzed their way onto the stage while being announced. Their positions for the mission were called, and each student received their official diploma, confirming their graduation.

Time seemed to work in slow motion between the two graduations, but when 11:00 hit, Team Von. T and Team Atlas were ready to walk in, listen to Schmitt's inspiring words and graduate. I took many pictures as our astronauts became official and Kate's team won not one, but two, awards for having the Best Mission and for being the Best Team in the team-building activities done in Area 51.

We grabbed a quick lunch in the cafeteria and I ran upstairs to the important offices of the Camp Director, big wigs of the Space Camp and website designer and downloaded all of the pictures and videos I'd taken because the director of the Deaf Space Camp week was "so impressed" by my work. Hopefully that means our students/kids will be on the website soon, to advertise next year's Deaf Space Camp week!

The bus ride home was rowdy (to put it mildly) but also each student at one time or another (definitely not all at the same time) took a nap and worked on schoolwork. Lee rode with his mother because she made the trip to Huntsville to see his graduation, so we logged our journey home sans Lee. We dropped off Kate in Greenville and the kids were literally jumping for joy (to be away from me?) when we pulled into SCSDB about 10:00pm. Thanks to the wonderful support at SCSDB, parents and the students themselves, we've made this trip a success.

Here's looking towards next year!! 

Day 5

Thursday- I think I've said it almost every post, but really, where did the time go? We're graduating as true astronauts tomorrow! I can't believe the week is over, it's been so busy!

It's been another great, very busy day here in Huntsville, Alabama! Immediately following breakfast, Kate did not one, not two but THREE missions! She and her group were in the mission facilities from 8:30-2:00 (yes there was a break for lunch) and Kate acted as Pilot, Communicator and Specialist for the various missions. She's affectionately known by the counselors, staff and interpreters as the REALLY sweet, talkative girl and they all love her personality (who doesn't? :) ) so everyone enjoyed her presence whether it was in the cockpit, mission control room or working on satellites in space. After their missions, Team Von Tiesenhausen spent some time on SpaceShot, a simulator for the extra "G's" you feel in space, then spent some time in the museum.

I had the privilege of interpreting for SP, Kia, and Dale as they tackled Area 51 (the low ropes course area) Dale and SP helped lead one group and Kia coached and encouraged the other team. Each team was given 3 or 4 "missions" that held problems they needed to solve as a team. From balancing boards and transporting "fuel cells" to hoisting teammates through lasers and escorting teams from a dying world to a new one, Team Atlas did it all!

Lee's morning consisted of a few history presentations. He learned about famous space crews throughout the years, the history of the shuttle and learned about the moon's phases. He also enjoyed the training simulator, learning how to control his movement as though he were tethered to a rocket.

Kate's afternoon and evening were quite exciting as she got her Seals Operation training and Escape and Evasion training. Dressed in camouflage and using Navy Seals sign, Kate and her group completed their mission, successfully clearing the "enemies" and patrolling the woods near Space Camp...we're all safe now!

Kia, SP, and Dale learned about Mars this evening, and saw many mock shuttles that are strewn throughout the "Rocket Park" here at Space Camp. They saw the shuttles illuminated and got a full history on each while they toured the sites.

Lee had a Jeopardy-like game about Space missions, terminology, astronauts and quotes from space and did well with his team. We'll find out tomorrow at Graduation if he won...I can't wait!

Some updates from our astronauts...

Lee-I enjoyed using the MMU and launching my rocket, I also liked the Superbowl competition, but we don't know who will win until tomorrow. byeeeeeeeeee  

Kate- Have soo much fun at Space Camp. I liked going to the theater to see IMAX movies, Mars, space shot, history presentations, being a pilot, Mission Specialist 2. I loved learning a lot about history and pilots because, I want a lot of experience about history and being a pilot. enjoyed being with my teams because they are great and cool too. This was my first time this year at Space Camp. I hope you that can come to Space Camp for challenges and competition. Bye, I will see you next week Monday at school. "I miss you" to everyone!

Kia- I had fun. I played games and learned about Mars. I talked with my friends. I went to Area 51 that had team building activities. I was the Captain of one game. They had a laser web we had to crawl through. The rules were that we can't touch the rope, you have to go through without touching and when you go through a circle, that circle is closed and you cant go through same place. Also, you can lift another person but no throwing. You cant jump through. If you touch the "laser" you have to go back and do it again. It was really tough, but a lot of fun!

Dale-hey I'm having a lot of fun here at Space Camp. Yesterday we went to Area 51 and we had a lot of fun and I made new friends and we played the toxic waste game the rules were: you can't touch the bucket with your  hands you have to use the rope only it was challenging but it was a lot of fun!

Day 4

Wednesday-We're more than halfway done??!?! Wow! Where did our time go? We've been busy busy busy learning new things, listening to presentations about space procedures, astronomy information, aviation techniques and absorbing new skills in our various roles for missions that we've lost track of time.

The incredibly busy, rigorous schedule is getting to our astronauts, as is being away from home, but we continued on with our work and accomplished a lot today.

Kia took the helm of the mission as Flight Director, in charge of the mission, communicating between the Mission Control "office" and the orbiter for their "Enterprise" mission. She did wonderfully, signed smoothly and kept everyone in line with the mission. Their practice this morning went really well and their real mission will be tomorrow. On the mission, SP was the Mission Specialist and did incredibly well fixing the satellite with her co-astronaut, Jared, from the Maryland School for the Deaf. They hung, suspended from the ceiling (I mean, floating in space) and fixed a broken satellite, getting directions from Mission Control. Also, Dale was the Station Scientist and developed 3 potentially priceless devices for NASA. His favorite was Gluep, a mixture of glue, water and borax which was fun to bounce in the shuttle's node (or hallway)

Kate began her day with a presentation on Russian Space history, followed by training for her "Charlie" mission. Kate took on the demanding role of Pilot, so she had many buttons to push and be in charge of. She controlled the cock pit of the shuttle with her friend Chad, from the Model Secondary School for the Deaf. together they made a great team!

Lee had a movie in the iMAX theatre this morning about various space missions (successful and not-so-successful) then he learned about the equipment that astronauts use everyday in their missions, what they use to eat and how they function in a shuttle on an everyday basis.

After lunch, Kate began her training for flight simulators and took to the skies! All of her group was eager to start and overlooked some of the simple tasks that were needed before lifting off from the earth (turning on the engines, putting down the flaps to get liftoff...etc) but they caught on quickly when they were all "grounded" and couldn't get out of the airport :) As the afternoon and evening progressed, they learned about flying, how to drop bombs, how to dog fight and then had a chance to try all of these things late this evening on each other. Everyone enjoyed the simulators and crashing one another.

Lee did both his "Enterprise" mission training and the ACTUAL "Enterprise" mission as the Station Scientist, developing ideas for new "fuel" for NASA spacecraft. He did an incredible job working with his peers and reporting back to Mission Control about his findings. Lee ended his night on the 1/6th chair which allowed Lee to feel the weightlessness of being on the moon. It was an impossible opportunity to pass up, so I moonwalked too. Did you know you weight 1/6th of your "earth weight" when you're on the moon? 

SP, Kia, and Dale enjoyed rock climbing this afternoon, Dale was very speedy at it! Wow, all of the counselors and chaperones were surprised by how quickly he reached the top of the wall and repelled down. I captured a few pictures, but he was done in the blink of an eye. Kia and SP enjoyed as well and carefully made their way to the top then back down. They also enjoyed searching the museum for various clues and items with their group and learning about mission patches.

 

Day 3

Tuesday- Another early morning and the kids were off and running. We had a good breakfast and then broke into our groups. Kate began the morning by heading to training for her "Bravo" mission. Kia, SP and Dale went to do an activity to make them feel like they were floating on the moon! Lee started his day with Astronomy stories including constellations and neat information about stars. 

Following Lee's story-telling time, I interpreted Lee's 5 Degrees of Freedom which is a ride that makes you feel like you're attached to a rocket, but outside floating in space while you fix a satellite. Lee and his teammates had to answer Space/Rocket questions to be able to get on the simulator and Lee did wonderfully answering his question. He floated, flipped and turned, then "fixed" his satellite in record time! Way to go, Lee!

Later this morning, Lee, SP and Kia did their "Enterprise" mission and each had their own role. Dale took on the VERY challenging role of Commander and got overwhelmed with all the buttons and was frustrated because Mission Control asked him to do many difficult tasks. Dale got his "let's do it" attitude on, focused 100% and successfully led his team back to earth. Kia handled communication issues between earth and their orbiter, while SP did various tasks on the shuttle and crafted a beam that'd been damaged.

Kate built her own rocket today and will launch it (weather permitting) tomorrow or Thursday. She had a fun time setting up her rocket, decorating it and deciding where to place her fins on the "two-phase" rocket. Kate and her group spent a lot of time in the afternoon in the Aviation simulator learning how to taxi, liftoff, fly and land a plane! She made it through all of the training and successfully landed a few times (it's really hard :) ) Later this evening, Kate enjoyed seeing the VERY heavy suit that fighter pilots wear, and laughed at volunteers who tried on the air bladders, burn-proof suit and parachute.

Kia, SP and Dale spent their afternoon and evening feeling weightless (well, 1/6th weightless) they enjoyed bouncing on the moon, twisting, turning and jumping in a less than normal gravity atmosphere and thoroughly enjoyed pointing and laughing as their teammates tripped over the moon surface.

Lee's group successfully completed their "Enterprise" mission this evening, all working together, communicating smoothly and even having to fix a "foul" booster on their shuttle mid-mission! Congratulations Team Aldrin!

Day 2

MONDAY- Rise and shine came quickly this morning at 7:00 when SCSDB's five astronauts rolled out of bed. As they wiped the sleep from their eyes, David met them (and only laughed for a short time) then directed them to the nearest shower, or gave them the schedule for the day so they'd know what to bring or not bring. After a hearty breakfast of Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, bananas, apples, biscuits, eggs, sausage and orange juice (hopefully not ALL of those) the students broke into their groups and headed to their first activity at 8. 

David interpreted for Kia, SP and Dale while they did "Rocket Construction" building a rocket to be launched later in the week. They'll use a real launchpad and if they've assembled it correctly :) the rocket will separate and the parachute will come out and float safely to the ground. All 3 of the students had fun and were attentive during their construction. As the pictures below show, their group did "5 Degrees of Freedom" to simulate being attached to a rocket, but out in space fixing a satellite. Dale said, "it feels like being in space, like I could fall at any time, but it was cool." Their Atlas group also did a high gravity ride that Dale asked David to ride with him, so both staff and student had joint thrills today!

Kate began her mission training this morning and did well interacting with her group as they solved problems and progressed together. David had the privilege of joining Kate and her group as they entered "Area 51" which entailed low ropes course activities and many team building objectives. Kate was chosen as a captain for one activity, where she helped load "radioactive fuel pellets" into their energy reserve tank. Don't worry mom and dad, "radioactive fuel pellets" is code for TENNIS BALLS. Kate did a great job brainstorming a solution to the problem and helped her teammates successfully complete their mission. Kate was also part of a "Med-Evac." activity in which she got to zipline to "safety."

Lee and his group also got to start their training for their "Mars" mission. Lee did wonderfully joining his peers in their hard work towards completing their goals. Lee got to experience "The Magic of Science" today as well as climb a rock wall and learn about mapping the moon! Today, Lee's group really focused on mission-work both morning and afternoon, so I'm sure Lee will be tired tonight!

Here are some updates from the kids.....

Kate- Hello to everyone! I'm so excited my first time at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. I love new deaf friends. I like keep make me busy all day and tomorrow too! I hope you can see pictures on the Blog. I will see you next week Monday.

Dale-Hey this is Dale I'm having an awesome time it is a lot of fun and I am so tired I rode the space shot with David it was really fun. I made new friends some of them are from California, Maryland,etc... they are fantastic to hang around with and I have a busy day tomorrow.

Lee- Hi! I'm enjoy space camp and much talk! I made friends some. today we started mission work. We also played a yellow tag game!

Kia- Hey! I have a lot fun! I make a new friends. They are from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and California. I learn a lot thing. The food is better that SCSDB food. Also we play games. But it have weird rules but i would not  tell you about the rule. i want all of you get experience.

SP- Hey, i do have a fun in the space camp!! I do made a new friends! i do want to u come over and have a fun, also the foods are very good! i do have a awesome time! those people were very nice and respect... also i want to come space camp again, next year! =/ 

Day 1

SUNDAY-After arriving to SCSDB to leave at 6am this wet Sunday morning, the 4 students, who between them probably had 25 minutes of sleep the previous night, and I were eager to get on the road to pick up Kate and head to Alabama for Space Camp 2009!

A mostly uneventful, sleepy for some (pics below) :) but rainy, trip landed us in Alabama about 1:00 CENTRAL time. The students met a few of the staff and moved into their rooms (pics below) They all agreed that their "habitat" (same sign as "dorm" with an "h" ) was weird, but they were excited to meet some new  friends from all over the country.

We quickly grabbed a sub lunch and were divided into their groups. Kia, SP and Dale were together in the "Atlas" group, Kate was in the Von Tiesenhausen group and Lee was in the Aldrin group. Each group had students from PA, SC, IA, MD, CA and there were 2 international students, one from Italy and one from Germany! 

We had not one, but TWO tornado drills, so we quickly learned  where the "safe places" were, and then all of the groups jumped into "Shuttle Anatomy" where they learned key words/terms to describe their space shuttle. Naturally, an IMAX movie filled their "leisurely" Sunday evening while I was stuck in not-so-exciting staff and interpreter meetings.

Though the kids complained about the early bedtime (9:30) they were all tuckered out and got to be so they'd be rested well for their first full day at Space Camp.