Day 5 Space Camp: Rockets to the Moon, Or At Least the Trees

One of the activities I really enjoyed during this week was building rockets. I hadn’t previously built this type of rocket before, water bottle rockets (which I still haven’t mastered) and balloon rockets, yes, but actual rockets with engines that you launch off in a field, was a first for me. The overall experience and excitement of building reminded me of the book The Rocket Boys, by Homer Hickam. The rockets we used were by Estes Rockets, a renowned manufacturer of innovative hobby products for the model rocket industry. Homer made his own out of any spare parts in his garage that he could find. Regardless, I still had that giddy feeling when putting together my rocket.

            The main parts of a model rocket are the body tube, engine holder assembly, fins, launch lug, nose cone, shock cord and recovery system. Model rockets are made of lightweight materials like paper, balsa wood and plastic. The body tube is the main structure of the rocket which determines the main shape of the rocket itself and is usually, but not always, long and slender. All other parts are attached to the body tube in some way. The engine holder assembly holds the engine in place inside the rocket. Fins when glued on correctly give directional stability and help the rocket fly straight. The launch lug is the hollow tube that slips over the launch rod. The nose cone is attached to the top of the rocket and is tapered to cut through the air more efficiently and reduce drag, which is the aerodynamic force that opposes motion through the air. The rubber shock cord attaches the nose cone to the body tube so the rocket is recovered in one piece. The recovery system returns the rocket to the ground, hopefully. At least, that’s the plan if the conditions are ideal and the wind doesn’t take your rocket into the trees.

         

  We each received our own kits that we were responsible for putting together, attaching the shock cord, fins, and parachute, and then we were allowed to decorate our rockets. There personality of each teacher really comes through here. We went crazy with the spray paint each trying to out-do the other with our personality and designs. Some went for the bright and bold colors that would stand out with neon yellow, others were green, some were red, gold, black, blue, whatever color that person desired. One teacher even insisted on putting ducks on hers so she could launch ducks in space.

            If you think about it from a teaching point of view it’s  for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, Newton’s Third Law that plays out. On launch day, we were like excited school kids heading over to Homer Hickam field, named for Homer Hickam, NASA engineer and author of several books including Back to the Moon and The Rocket Boys. Of course Honeywell’s media team was present to photograph and film the international students. One by one our rockets were lined up and we were given numbers. One by one we watched the rockets launch high into the sky - demonstrating principals of thrust, drag, and just plain awesomeness. One by one we watched as each rocket reached its maximum height, and then it’s decent back to earth. Some of the group was even lucky enough to retrieve their rockets, while sadly, others went to the Rocket Hall of Fame, otherwise known as the trees.

here,

            Sadly, my rocket, which I lovingly christened Comet, was lost forever in the Rocket Hall of Fame, otherwise known as the trees, along with several of my comrades. I will remember Comet fondly, sniff, sniff, and the short but explosive time we had together.

           

Day 4 Space Camp Adventure: Please Don't Drown the Cadets

Please Don’t Drown the Cadets

People go through many different challenges and those challenges can have varying

degrees. People also may have different fears that are challenges to them. Some people have arachnophobia – the fear of spiders, or aerophobia – the fear of flying. There’s also mysophobia, monophobia, thanatophobia, aquaphobia, and acrophobia: the fear of germs, being alone, death, water, and heights, respectively. And yes, NASA has even studied spiders in space, so you can’t get away from those creepy crawlers, not even millions of miles away in the space station.

Space Camp has a tendency to help you overcome these fears. Well, maybe not alektorophobia – the fear of chickens, as there weren’t many chickens at Space Camp, except at lunch and dinner. They served a lot of chicken, so yea, maybe that would be difficult for someone who hates chicken.

Day 4 of Space Camp was the water survival challenges. There were three in all. Two of the three were to simulate situations in which you would need to work through your fears if you had any, in order to survive some type of helicopter crash. The third was a simulation of a parachute jump out of a plane in which you actually zip-lined down into the water. For someone who isn’t a good swimmer, and who has a fear of heights, this can be a very traumatic experience. This is me.

Daily, I checked the schedule, fearing that the time would come when I would need to brace myself for these events. Daily, I breathed a sigh of relief, when I realized today wasn’t the day. Day 4, I wasn’t so lucky. Day 4 was the day when everyone would partake in the water survival challenge. Perhaps it’s the words, survival in the sentence. Doesn’t do much for my nerves as you can imagine.

Two summers ago, my husband decided he was going through a mid-life crisis and wanted some adventure in his life, okay, maybe not a mid-life crisis, but it sure felt like that to me. We went to Costa Rica. During the rainy season. To zip-line. And do rope bridges. Yea, you know that fear of heights? Well, that’s me. Terrified with a capital T. Worst part? I had a cast on my ankle from falling down the stairs the week before. I forgot to mention, I'm clumsy too. I did every single zip-line in Costa Rica, but almost divorced my husband in the process thinking this was his way of torturing me for putting too much starch in his shorts.

Fast forward to day four of Space Camp, and there I was nervous as hell, trying not to let on to my comrades that I was actually freaking out. I offered to take pictures of people as they were going up until my turn. I thought watching them go down and having a great time would ease my fear, it didn't. I got the harness on, which let me tell you is a major adult wedgie. I got my helmet on and was given the okay to climb the stairs. With each step up that I took, my heart sped up a little bit more and my nerves left me with a huge knot in my stomach along with remnants of the day's lunch; and guess what - we had chicken, until I was finally at the top of the platform, freaking scared out of my wits, to the point of hyperventilating. Even concentrating on the hot guy at the top who was harnessing me in, I was completely numb. I was fighting back the tears but when he hooked that final carabineer clip, I just lost it. Tears flowing, heart racing, and me thinking, this was it, I’m dying up here with a freaking wedgie. Our crew trainer, Jett Puff, not really her name, but rather her call sign, talked me down and encouraged me to stay strong. Hot guy, not his name or his call sign, just my little nickname for him, then told me that no one has died yet. Yet? Did he have to use the word yet? He then released the cable and I was gliding backwards towards the water, my feet dangling, tears stinging my eyes. Note to self, when going on expeditions that will make one cry, skip the mascara. I landed with a plop and a splash and two more adorable lifeguards asked if I was okay. Once they realized I was just scared out of my wits, they helped out of the zip-line and to safe sanctuary of the ground, in which I did the sign of the cross four times, and I'm not even catholic.

  

          Luckily the walk back to the rest of the crew was long enough that I could recover and no one would be the wiser that I just did the scariest thing of my life. Next, was the dunking tank, which simulated a helicopter crash. Six cadets are put into something that vaguely resembles a helicopter, more like a really large tin can with a couple of seats and windows in it that once the tin can, er helicopter, crash lands in the water, you attempt to swim out in an orderly fashion. Though buoyancy wasn’t my friend that day, the water rushing in once we hit the water caused my adrenaline to all time high. It was difficult waiting for my number to be called to swim out. My survival instincts kicked in and all I thought about was pushing past the person ahead of me. They weren’t part of my team anyway, so why not? It was probably less than thirty seconds for that person to swim out, but it felt longer than that, much, much longer.

            Once our whole group did a sound off of our numbers and we were all accounted for, we  The chilly water spraying down from the helicopter was in contrast to the warmth of the lake we were in. I enjoyed those last two maneuvers so much, I got in line to do those again. I did not attempt the zip-line for a second time. One wedgy that night was enough.

swam towards Tribo, a crew trainer who walked us through how to complete the helicopter rescue, with the rescue basket and all. We learned to sit with our arms and legs crossed in the rescue basket, which she restated as “crisscross, applesauce style” knowing we were teachers and would understand that reference.

Space Camp Day 3: STS Mission Positions

            Nestled near the edge of the Appalachians a woman nervously paced as she awaited her command post for her first mission. The birds were happily chirping in tune with the gentle breeze as it blandly rustled the trees. The deep rays of the sun high overhead created small beads of nervous perspiration that now sat on her forehead. She didn’t notice the birds, or the heat the extreme heat. She only focused on the ground before her counting her steps. She always paced and counted her steps when she was nervous. Today is the day she had been waiting for. Today is the day she had been training for. Today, she would be given her position on the Orion mission. She had hoped for an EVA, an extravehicular activity. She dreamed about being on one of these missions for as long as she could remember. She wanted it so badly, she could taste it.

            She trained every day, trying to put herself in the best possible condition she could. She spent more time studying than the rest of the recruits preparing for any possible situation. But she also knew she wasn’t the only one who wanted it. She couldn’t forget about the Canadian and the Russian on the same mission. They too had put in for it. The crew trainer called the recruits together. They all stood at attention, hands behind their back, looking like toy soldiers lined up in their blue flight suits. It was time to walk over to the Mission Center Complex. All 14 recruits filed into MOCR, the mission operations control room, where they director would announce positions.

            She silently prayed, please God, if you’re listening today, please let me do an EVA. Please don’t let it go to the Russian, not the Russian. It wasn’t that she had anything against the Russian, it was just that he seemed to get all the best positions. The director looked around, cleared his throat, glancing down at his clipboard, he gave a speech telling the recruits not to be disappointed with any positions, and that every position was just as important as the rest.

            “We are team, recruits.” He said in his southern twang, “we work together on this one. I know some of y’all were hoping to put on the bunny suit today.” That’s how they referred to the suit that the astronauts wore when going on a space walk. “But, not everybody gets to play the hero. Your crew trainer will go through your jobs. Let’s all be careful out there.” He handed the clipboard to the crew trainer who briefly scanned the room.

            “Uh, oh.” She said to herself.

            “What’s wrong?” her classmate whispered leaning towards her.

            “She’s not making eye contact, that’s not a good sign.” She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, opening them and looking straight ahead as the crew trainer made her announcements.

            All the recruits stood waiting to exhale until all of the announcements were made. There were sighs of relief from classmates as their names were called for ISS, International Space Station. It was time for Orbiter positions; she crossed her fingers and prayed again. She let out a huge sigh when she realized her name wasn’t called. The trainer continued through the MOCR stations; EECOM, not her. PAYCOM, not her. FDO, CAPCOM, GNC, again, not called. Everyone excitedly started talking before the trainer could finish the list. She went through the list again. Flight Director.

            “Okay”, she thought to herself, slightly deflated. It was better than EVA officer. They only provided directions and support to Flight Engineers while they were on EVA. That would be too much of a slap in the face, especially considering the Russian and the Canadian get to do the EVA. “Flight Director,” she smiled to herself as she let the words glide off her lips. She knew it was an important role. She was literally responsible for crew safety and success of the entire mission. She would also have deciding vote/rule on all anomaly situations. She could handle that; after all, didn’t she have the utmost respect for Gene Kranz, Flight Director for Apollo 13? And of course, she admired Michele Brekke, the first female Flight Director in 1985 too.

            She settled into her chair at the command center computer module marked FLIGHT. She put

on the headsets, set the channel, and spoke, “Mission Control, this is Flight Director. Complete final pre-flight checks and prepare for lift-off for Atlantis and her crew.” Yep, this would do nicely.

Space Camp Day 2: 37 States, 25 Countries, 1 Mission

Day 2: Mission 37 States, 25 Countries

Well, our 4^th suite mate showed up last night, late. Like after midnight late. Her name is Aring and she is from Indonesia! Freaking, Indonesia. I am just amazed at how far teachers have come for this experience. Today, I met teachers from Ireland, South Africa, and Russia. It was announced at our morning session after breakfast that there were teachers representing 37 states and 25 different countries!

With my knapsack packed, flight suit on, of course, I was ready for my first mission. Today was referred to as media day. There was a lot of picture taking. And I mean a lot. The weather in Alabama is finicky. It was chilly this morning in which I was happy to don that beautiful flight suit but by late afternoon trying to get a full group picture, followed by team pictures, and country pictures, and then of course individual pictures in the hot sun with the shuttle in the background, I was spent. I hadn’t realized just how hot those suits are! You would think NASA engineers could come up with a light-weight fabric for those things. By the time we finished pictures, all I could think about was stripping that thing off and grabbing a cold beer.

I had the opportunity to listen to and meet two guest speakers today, Ed Buckbee and Bob Springer, and take a facilities tour. Ed Buckbee had been with the US Space program for over 40 years. He started his career when the first Mercury astronauts were selected. He, along with Werner von Braun, conceived and developed the first exhibit relating stories about the first astronauts. He also started the International Space Camp. I have to admit, I kind fan faved here, when he autographed the book he wrote, The Real Space Cowboys, about the first seven astronauts. He spelled my name wrong, but hey, I still got his autograph! And for a guy who’s now in his 70’s, he looked awfully darn cute in his green Space Camp jacket!

Next, a retired NASA engineer walked us through the history of the shuttle program and the functions of the shuttle itself on a facilities tour. He was a wealth of information including the fact that Saturn 5 weighed over 6 ½ million pounds, with 6 million of those pounds being fuel! He also had much to say about the government decreasing the budge with only about 4/10 of 1% of the federal budget supporting NASA. I was kind of saddened by the fact that the only way the US could get to the International Space Station is to hitch a ride with the Russians. I knew we were no longer operating the Shuttle but I had no idea that was our only ride into space. There is talk of missions to Mars but our tour guide seemed to think that was much further off into the future than officials are reporting, unless that budget changes. Maybe NASA could hold a big raffle or sell candy or popcorn door to door like the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts do to raise money? Hey, I might be on to something there. It’s really a shame that our future generations won’t have the same enthusiasm for space exploration as there was in the 1960’s. What’s the matter with our government officials? Haven’t they ever watched Star Trek, The Right Stuff, or Apollo 13 and think wow, someday, I would love to ride in a space shuttle?

Our last speaker was astronaut, Bob Springer, who was a mission specialist on both Discovery (1989) and Atlantis (1990). It was his personal stories of flight missions that both awed and inspired me. When asked about astronaut training, a question about going to bathroom came up. I have to admit, I was kind of curious about that too! He had told us about the time he refused to wear the MAG, Maximum Absorbency Garment, other wise known as NASA adult diapers. I don’t blame him, I wouldn’t want to either. He commented that in order to imagine what it would be like to use one, we would need to put one on, lay on our backs on the bathroom floor, with our feet propped up on the side of the bathtub, and try and go pee. “Let me tell you, it ain’t easy,” he said with a grin. 

It just didn’t seem like the day could get any better, but it did. We headed back to the educational center where we sat in an auditorium to hear about the specific mission jobs that we will be partaking in. We ran through what each role was and from there had to choose and rank our top choices. I took a fancy to a few different roles including that of Base Commander, who is responsible for all crew activities and operations in Shackleton Crater, Commander of the Orion Capsule, Lunar Mission Specialist, which means I would get to do an OLE (Open Lunar Excursion, which is a fancy name for Space Walk), and Flight Engineer for the International Space Station. I only get to do one of these jobs, so I needed to choose wisely. I probably should go with my head rather than my heart, but I think the overwhelming desire to wear an actual space suit drove my final decision. We were told that only the Type A personalities should go for the positions of Commander and Flight Commander, especially those that liked to order others around and are control freaks. My children would tell you, that’s me. I marked myself down for both space walks, as did just about everyone else in the group as I think putting on that white suit would be blast, but I’m not sure how the process goes. There was a questionnaire that we methodically filled out regarding our abilities to take charge, and our rankings of our desired positions, which we were told they would carefully look over and make decisions from there, but I’m wondering if really, if after a few beers (it is Biergarten Night back at the Shuttle exhibits) those crew directors don’t just randomly pick out of a hat and say the hell with it. I don’t know why, but I really want to try and do a space walk. So what if I’m claustrophobic, it’s freaking Space Camp, and I’m damn well going to get over my fears once and for all. I have to wait until tomorrow to find out my mission position. Wonder who I can bribe to let me be in one of those space walks? What do you think, 50 bucks should do it? Or another round?