Day 16

 

Our final day (and a half) was largely spent getting home.

After breakfast most of the group took the local trolley bus to an Outlet Store complex. Some students were keen to spend a few more US dollars on the cheap clothing, shoes and electronics while others were happy to window shop or rest back at the hotel.

The final packing required some creative solutions to the 50 pound/single piece of luggage restrictions with some students ’renting out’ spare space to those who had none.

We had an opportunity to review our tour while waiting for the bus- the feedback from the students was very positive and there was also some useful suggestions for improvements for future tours.

The first flight to New York was late arriving which made it very tight for Emma to meet her mum. We were able to get her off the plane before anyone else so she could get to her flight to Germany.

The check-in and security lines for our next flight were very long which used up two of the three hours before our next flight. We then had a 13 hour flight to Dubai with most students getting a reasonable amount of sleep. This flight was an hour late which meant we had to be rushed through security to get to our waiting plane. Our final leg to Perth took 10 hours.

Before leaving the plane we all put on our Space Camp flight suits which prompted many queries from the surrounding passengers. We finally cleared customs and walked out to meet the many friends and family who had come to meet us. It felt good to be home!

 

I would like to thank all those who have supported this tour-the parents for giving their children this wonderful opportunity and the school’s administration for allowing it to run. A special thankyou to Janet Mengler for her help with the organisation and supervision and to Jeff Mengler for his help on tour.

 

Graeme Roberts.

Day 15

Day 15 blog:

Today started as usual at the Palms Resort. We met for breakfast at 7:45 and we were ready for the bus at 9:00. Logan and Katie both celebrated their 16th birthdays with muffin birthday cakes and a card signed by everyone.

Today’s destination on our (very comfortable) Jet Set bus was Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure.  We arrived at around 9:30, and walked past many novelty shops and photographers who would hassle you to buy their pictures. We then entered the queue for our tickets, and went through the regular bag checks. As soon as we finished we divided into groups and went our different ways. My group and I rushed to the towering Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster that was just past the gates. We survived the 4G forces and 200 foot (~55 metres) drop of the coaster, it was excellent fun and most of us did the coaster 2-3 times. We then walked through the marvellous Marvel Super Hero Island where we met our childhood idols, including Spiderman, Wolverine and the Fantastic Four. We conquered the Dr Doom’s Fear Fall, a ride similar to Adventure World’s Free Fall, and also went through the Amazing Spiderman Simulator, which throws you into a 3D battle between Spidey and his foes. The movement, illusions and special effects were amazing and made you feel as though you were there.                        

We then continued clockwise around to Toon Lagoon, where the theme was comic strip characters and the rides were wet. The first ride we went on at Toon Lagoon was Bilge-Rat Barges, an unnecessarily wet rapids type ride that drenched our uniforms and filled our shoes with water. Being already drenched, we decided to do all the water rides before we dried, which included Rip Saw Falls, a log flume ride that featured a steep waterfall drop that drenched us further. We then travelled through time to Jurassic Park, where we were met with the fierce predators of the past in an epic flume ride that weaved its way through animatronic dinosaurs and scenes from the films, there was also a tour like ride called Pteranodon Flyers ride that soared around the park, however we did not go on this ride because we were too old/tall.

 

The main attraction (for us) was the magical and enchanting Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a themed area of the park. Most of us diehard fans spent most of our time and money there. It included rides such as the thrilling and exciting dragon rollercoaster, which clocks at speeds of 175 km/hr. it was terrifying because we were hanging from overhead rails and the coaster inverted several times which made some of us (Michael and Sam) wish we’d stayed on the ground. We wandered through Hogsmade which sold magnificent hand craft wands, delicious Butter Beer (non-alcoholic) and Bertie’s Every Flavoured Beans. The Hogwarts simulator launched us into an escape with Harry and his pals.

 

We then took a poetic journey through the great Dr Seuss’ land of childhood memories. This area featured the Cat in the Hat ride that gave us a tour of Dr Seuss’ world with a twist, literally (the ride involved spinning)

To conclude our splendid last full day in the US we all met back at the entrance at 7:00 pm to get on our fancy bus, the Jet Set. We then took at very short detour to Burger King for dinner because the shops at Universal Studios were closed.

-          By Reece K and Tom B

Day 14 – Kennedy Space Centre

We all woke to another fabulous breakfast at the International Palm’s resort, before heading back to our rooms to prepare for the journey ahead. Today we were heading to the Kennedy Space Centre, but to get there we had an hour long drive ahead of us. The drive itself was very scenic; with planes landing overhead, alligators and turtles scattered either side of the road, all of which we saw from the wrong side of the road. When we arrived it was like we’d gone back to Space Camp. We were still 3 miles away when we spotted the first of the centre – the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). It’s the largest single story building in the world and the 4^th largest building in volume. It wasn’t long afterwards that we spotted dozens of space craft, marking our arrival. We swiftly collected our tickets, passed through security and hopped on board the tour bus.

 

Dana, our guide, took us around to see all of the facilities available for viewing by the public. There were some amazing sights. Launch pad 39 a – this was where the past shuttles and Apollo rockets where launched from, with its huge protruding arm that kept the elements away from the rockets prior to launch. A short distance away was a water tower that used water to soften the shockwaves of the launch. Without it, every single window in the surrounding county would shatter. We drove past launch pad 39b which is being constructed in preparation for the Orion program’s new shuttle design that is nearing completion. Leading up to both of these pads was  an 8 lane wide and 7.00m deep, pebble path. This was what the vehicle known as The Crawler would travel on when transporting the spacecraft from the VAB to the pad/s. We were able to see the crawler up close, and it was nothing short of spectacular. Millions of pounds heavy and capable of carrying even heavier loads, we could see why it needed the 8 lanes. It took 5 hours to travel from the VAB to the pad, with a top speed of 1mph. On top of this it had to travel up a slope just before its destination using its hydraulics system to keep the rocket horizontal.

We were dropped off at the Apollo/Saturn V Centre where we saw a presentation on the history of space travel. Starting from the Soviet Union’s Sputnik, all the way through to Apollo 11 and the first steps of man on the moon. We sat in the very room that launched Apollo 8 around the moon and back, re-living the events that took place. Lunch split the presentation in two, and we made our way into the final part of the show – the Apollo 11 moon landing. With props and replicas to assist the narrator, it was a good finale to the show. Afterwards we caught another bus ride back to the main centre; just in time to catch the Imax showing of Space Station 3D, narrated by Tom Cruise. It did a great job of capturing life in space along with the incredible possibilities that come from the orbiting space station.

 

 

We then moved to the Atlantis space shuttle exhibit which began with a short film, showing how it took them 12 years to design and build the first ever reusable space craft. We moved through to a second viewing area showing the lifecycle of the one of the shuttles; Atlantis. It explained how the shuttle took off, distributed and repaired satellites or docked with the ISS, re-entered through the Earth’s atmosphere and safely landed back on Earth. The screen then lifted and we moved through to  a museum featuring the original Atlantis shuttle and rows of simulators. The simulators were a little like the simulators at Space Camp; where you either docked or landed the shuttle. They were very basic however when compared to the ones at Space Camp.   

Time was up, and we hopped back on the bus and were on our way back to the hotel. Everyone was beginning to feel the hunger building up which led to the question – ‘What’s for dinner?’ After freshening up we faced a decision. Pizza hut, Chinese, or Indian. In the end the group split in all directions, but everyone was satisfied all the same. We all met outside the restaurants and did 30 minutes of shopping along the street, passing through the gift shop and taking a peek at Gator Golf. Everyone was exited to head back down to the pool for another dip, and that’s exactly what we did. We all had a blast frolicking in the water and eventually tired ourselves out. Sauntering back to our rooms we prepare ourselves for the day ahead.

 

By Jono and Logan.

Day 13

Day 13

Today was absolutely wonderful at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. We were brought back to our childhood with characters we love and adore, like Minnie Mouse and Cinderella.

The day started off at 7:45am in the breakfast hall, where we had Mickey Mouse waffles and scrambled eggs. After our delicious breakfast, we sang happy birthday to Ben, who got a birthday cake made of muffins. The candles were the trick ones that kept relighting, it was really funny to watch Ben trying to blow them out. Although we were happy for him, we were all secretly jealous that he got to celebrate his birthday with all the Disney characters.

 

We were all buzzing with excitement on the bus ride as we passed the signs with Mickey Mouse on them. After we turned a corner, we saw the iconic Disney castle. We were all dumbstruck as we saw the castle that most of us have ever only seen in movies before.

This time, we didn’t have the problem with the entrance card, like we had at Epcot, so we got straight in. Mr Roberts let us go our own way so long as we stayed in groups of 3 or 4. Everyone was excited to go to Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, Magic Kingdom’s most famous rides.

Space Mountain was the ride we went on first. It is nearly pitch black except the stars all around you. It was like falling through the stars in directions you weren’t expecting. We then went through a portal to the future, where flashing LED lights guided our rocket to the end! The ride was a great one that finished too soon, so we went a second time but took a different route. Overall, this ride was one of my favourites.

Splash Mountain, as the name suggests, is a water ride. In a boat, you explore the world of Brer Fox, and see all of the exciting places based on the movie. After going through the relaxing part, the atmosphere turns dark – signs telling you to ‘enter at your own risk’ and ‘turn back now’ made us scared. The ride ends with a 50 ft drop, past large animated thorn bushes, into the water below. We didn’t get too wet, except the people at the front!

 

Big Thunder Mountain was set to the back drop of the Wild West. Although there was a long wait for this ride, it was fun, as you got to blow up Dynamite by pushing the detonator. When we got on the ride, it was a high-paced rollercoaster. We passed many ‘wild west’ themed items, such as TNT, gunshots, crates of explosives, and more. We felt like we were in an old Wild West movie! It was a thrilling and entertaining ride!

After we did some of the rides, we went to get autographs and photos with some of our favourite   characters! We were like big kids waiting in the line to meet the princesses and other characters.  I think we were more excited than some of the kids there! Our favourite character was Peter Pan – he was so nice and handsome 😉!  The lady behind us in the line was getting angry because we took a long time with him – but we didn’t want to leave! Some of the lines were very long; the line to see Tinkerbell and Cinderella was over 45 minutes, but it was worth it!

 

After dark, the Disney castle became illuminated with beautiful fairy lights on the top and changed colour below. It was even more magical at night than in the day time! Many people were out to see the Minnie and Mickey show in front of the castle, so it was really busy there! Around 50 000 people visit Magic Kingdom every day!

Overall, we all had a great time at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. It was a magical day, where all of our childhood dreams came to life.

-         By Katie and Nicola.

 

Day 12

Day 12

Our first morning in Florida was one of comfort compared to the gruel of Space Camp. We woke up to a luxury breakfast, from beds that were actually beds, a nice change of pace. Compared to Huntsville & our other destinations Florida had nice warm temperatures in the morning, a nice change

After waking up at 7:45 we were let free to go and fill our plates with all we could eat. There was crispy bacon, a chef offering to make an omelette, waffles, scrambled eggs and one of my favourite, hash browns. After breakfast we headed up to our rooms until 8.50, where we prepared for a long day. The bus ride to Epcot took around 20 minutes, our first sight of our destination was the gates, full of Disney characters. After yet more driving, and a lot of parking we arrived at the front entrance. We were all prepped to go in, before realising that the papers to get in were back at the hotel… whoops. Mr Roberts started ringing around and after a while we obtained the entry numbers.

We walked in and then after choosing a meeting spot split into small groups for the day. Epcot was full of attractions, each more different from the last. The Epcot dome was easily the thing that caught the eye. Inside was an attraction on time and space, a slow moving ride throughout the dome looking at the invention of civilisation and technology, right from the Ice Age to today’s  time. It was filled with moving lifelike figures depicting everything that was going on in the scenes.

Past the dome were strings of other attractions leading to the centre of the park, a HUGE lake. Around the edges of the lake were the world showcases, attractions showing the history and culture of all the famous powers of the worlds. Each attraction was a little theme park of its self, with plenty to do and see. Around the lake there were over 25 different counties and cultures represented. Each showcase was beautifully designed to show off the culture and style of each country. The showcases ranged from traditional Holland to feudal Japan to ancient Mexico etc.

 

Around the dome its self the other exhibits were placed. Most of these exhibits were slow moving presentations teaching many different things, ranging from space and time to engineering challenges to using your imagination. Many of the displays and presentations used the same moving lifelike wax figures as used in the centre dome. The presentation by Ellen DeGeneres on energy through the prehistoric ere was absolutely amazing, well worth seeing again…and again.

After 7 hours of touring the park darkness fell, and the whole place changed. Everything was lit up spectacularly for Christmas, lights everywhere. To me the whole atmosphere changed, it was truly incredible. One of the smallest yet best features were the jumping fountains, jets of water propelled carefully into places on their own, lit up colourfully. We spent a good half an hour just messing around there. After leaving the fountains behind it was time for the famous Epcot fireworks. To say they lived up to expectations would be underdoing it just a bit. Incredible bursts of colour lit up the sky across the lake, right in front of us. Meanwhile a story of imagination was being told to bursts of fire and music. The whole experience was incredible.

 

After the Fireworks we headed for the exit, along with every other like-minded person. We were going strong till we hit the hotel, then we realised just how weary we were. We had been at it for over 12 hours after all….

All in all Epcot was an amazing experience and a great day, something truly worth doing. We all loved it and want to go back some day. Anyway, it’s getting late here and we have even longer days to come. See you all in just under week…

By Ben and Nathan.

Day 12

Day 12


Had a great day at Disney's EPCOT.

Didn't get back till late. I will get the students to do the blog when we get a chance- sleep is more impotant.     Graeme.

Day 11

Day 11 Blog

We have spent most of the day travelling.
Up at 7.30am, packed our bags, breki, said our final goodbyes and on the bus by 9.15am.
Some of the students emotional; all raving about their Space camp experience.
Delayed flights (heavy rain in Huntsville). Flew via Atlanta to Orlando.
Arrived at the hotel around 5.30pm, checked-in, out to tea (Pizza Hut), back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. Warm and sunny here today and it should be fine for the next few days.

We have 3 or four students trying to fight-off colds- nothing major as yet just soar throats and blocked noses; fingers crossed they don't sink too far and recover quickly .

All looking forward to Disney (EPCOT) tomorrow. Another long day ahead- wont be leaving till after the fireworks at 9.30pm so I can't promise another expansive blog for a few days.

Graeme.

Day 10

Day 10

Today started like any other; we woke up to the gruelling shout of our crew trainers. We then rushed to get ready in our allotted time (which was very short) and prepared for the long day ahead. At breakfast we were again greeted with hash browns, bacon, scrambled eggs and a large variety of sugary cereals (most popular being Lucky Charms and Dippin Dots). We then split into our two separate teams, Holderer and Von Tiesenhausen. Von T then went to the Aviation Challenge where we flew in the flight simulators and experienced 3G’s of force in the Centrifuge. Unfortunately this was too much for some people and made many people sick, however it was still a great experience.

 

At the same time, team Holderer embarked on their EDM (Extended Duration Mission), or as we like to call it, ‘Everybody Dies Mission’. The team was then divided again and moved to their designated positions, either in MOCR (Mission Control), the ISS (International Space Station) or the Orbiter. 11 out of 12 people died during the first half of the mission, and in order to be revived, the recently deceased had to perform ‘I’m A Little Teapot’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ in front of the younger campers. Despite all of the difficulties they faced, team Holderer was still successful and arrived back at Earth safely.

After lunch, team Von T launched their hand-made rockets. All of the rockets launched successfully and made it into ‘space’, and protected the eggstronauts. All of the rockets were found except one, which disappeared into the wilderness, never to be seen again; it was a sad day for all. Von T then went back to Area 51 and challenged themselves with the difficult task of the Pamper Pole. The aim was to climb up a 15 metre telephone pole, stand up on top of it and to then proceed to take a leap of faith into the unknown. Although many people were hesitant, we soon discovered that they were only ‘Australian scared’, meaning that they were terrified but were going to do it anyway; our instructors were very impressed.

 

After dinner, both teams had their next Engineering Challenge, ‘Ablative Shielding’. We were given the task to create a heat-proof shield to again protect our eggstronauts, using a variety of materials provided. Some of the teams received a maximum of 200 points for protecting the egg, whilst others received 0.

All the teams at Space Camp then came together to compete in the Spacebowl Quiz Challenge. The questions were quite difficult and were based on what we had learnt during our time at Space Camp. By the end of the quiz, team Holderer was crowned Spacebowl Quiz Champions for 2013. Immediately after the Spacebowl quiz, the teams prepared for graduation. Everyone stood proud as we received our certificates and name badges. Holderer was awarded a prize for being the Outstanding Team, as they were very energetic and as their crew trainers said, they were the ‘swaggiest of them all’. Von Tiesenhausen was also awarded the Commander’s Cup for accumulating the most points in all of the challenges and activities during the week.

 

 

 Even though our graduation was late at night, many of the crew trainers and instructors attended, and we all said our goodbyes. We are all very thankful for all of the time and effort that all of the instructors and crew trainers put in to make our experience at Space Camp even better; we all had an amazing time.

 

Written by Amy and Daria

Day 10


Sorry late night-didn't get to bed till 11pm after the graduation. We will post two blogs later today!

Day 9

Day 9

Today the people in room 219 woke up at 8.00am, it was great to sleep in without a 6:30 alarm going off by accident (caused by people forgetting to turn off their alarms). Once we were all up, we all got ready for the day ahead and went down to breakfast. We had pretty much the same  choices as we had yesterday.

 

After breakfast, we went and collected our rockets and put the eggs inside the rocket and made some final adjustments. Then we walked to the launch site and launched our rockets. All of the rockets went up straight and high with the parachutes jettisoning from the rockets at the right times and making a successful landing for the eggs to survive. After the launch of the rockets we noticed loads of parachutes from previous launched rockets sitting in the trees around us. I asked the person launching the rockets how many rockets had been launched in the area and she said around a million rockets had been launched.

 

The leader then took us to the Freefall and all but a few of us went on. We all had a great time; it was great because it gave us a sense of weightlessness at the top of the ride because there was a freefall after we reached the top. This made your stomach feel weird but the feelings of fun and excitement helped us overcome any negative sensations. We had many rides on the Freefall before we eventually  had to go. .

We then proceeded to practice our missions. This was our third and fourth rotations, with each team member having rehearsed all aspects of our shuttle mission up to the International Space Station and return.

After lunch we took the bus to the Pamper Pole. We all stood in a circle and told our names to the group and took a picture each. We then made our way to the pole and put our harnesses on in preparation. The harness once again were quite unconformable but we still put them on nice and tight and got a special seatbelt strapped around our arms to our chests. I was the first man to go up the pamper pole and when I got to the top the pole was wobbleing all over the place. It was very hard to stand but I still managed to do so and the started to try to turn around on the pole but was pulled off by one of the leaders.  Almost everyone in our group managed the daunting task of climbing the 15m high pole and to take a leap off the top. We had to place our trust in our team to lower us on a cable safely back to the ground.

Meanwhile the other team had their final 3 hour mission. Despite the challenges set (including on board fires, sick an injured personal, cargo bay doors sticking, etc.etc.) they managed to achieve all their goals.

 

After dinner we had a range of interesting activities including some astronomy presentations and talks on the history of space flights.

With lights-out in 2 minutes we will have to cut our blog short.  We are off to bed-hopefully to sleep till 8am.

By Aaron and Andrew  

Day 8 – Space Camp Day 2

We awoke this morning to our lovely team leader Jillian getting us ready for a new day full of excitement, curiosity and knowledge. Many of us groggily tumbled out of our beds, whereas others were up and ready in a flash (actually this was only an incredibly small amount of people). After everyone was dressed and ready for the day, we all headed to breakfast, where we were served: gloriously crispy hash brown stars, waffles, and some seriously sugary cereals. Next we began our remaining two training missions called Charlie and Delta. Everyone had different positions this time around; we were either being stationed in the Orbiter, the ISS (International Space Station) or MOCR (Mission Control).  All too soon our missions ended, and were greeted with rice, stir-fry, peas, salad, and some meat product (living up to the urban legend of “Mystery Meat”) for lunch, everyone loaded up on the soft drinks and ice cream on offer. With full bellies and curious minds, the group that we were a part of – called Holderer – followed our other team leader Corey, where we waited for our next activity.

Eventually, we were driven off in a bus to Area 51, which is unfortunately not the infamous “alien base”. As the group disembarked into the wilderness, we were met with a 17m tall tower. Our friendly yet cheeky instructors told us that we would be doing the zip line here, striking fear and excitement in our hearts. The tower itself was fairly intimidating, with a huge ladder up one side and a scaling wall up the other. One person would climb up, jump off down the zip line and be retrieved by a ladder. On a side note there were an astounding amount of lady bugs, which we were informed were actually Japanese beetles. When we finished, we gathered in a secret square of slightly damp tables, and discussed our thoughts and feelings regarding the zip line and trust.

While we were having fun on the zip-line Mr Roberts and Mrs Mengler took a bus into down-town Huntsville and found a Laundromat where they had “fun” washing out our smelly clothes.

Next we had our first two serious missions, with our roles being the same as yesterday. The first went fairly well, with a few minor communication mishaps, but thankfully no one died more than a few times. We ran overtime, so the next mission was cut short. This lead to a malfunction when we took off, so we had to abort. Luckily Daria is a great pilot so we landed to the left of the runway in the Ben Guerin Air Base in Morocco, and stayed alive.

 

A trip to the gift shop was next were we all got new flight suits and name badges. Mr Roberts said if we got them we have to wear them at the airport, and on the first full school assembly. In turn he was to wear his flight suit ALL WEEK.

Dinner was Brazilian, therefore no one, not even the instructors knew what it was. There was the usual Mac’n Cheese and chicken nuggets (Krystal is ecstatic over them) so we coped.

Another lecture about medicine and first aid followed. It was very serious, and taught us that one person per group would be selected as a flight surgeon , and would be tasked with the responsibility of administering medicine (skittles), injections, many band aids and possibly restraining a person during the three hour mission.  We were told that we would randomly be given different medical ailments which we have to act out. It will be a very fun and interesting experience!

We have just had our final rocket building session, so they’re now ready for flying tomorrow. Each team of four has done a different design to safely carry our cargo of an egg up a minimum of 3 metres and down again while keeping the egg safe. The more adventurous have gone for a two stage rocket but we have opted for the safer and more reliable (we hope) single stage rocket. 

Our final session for the day was a presentation on the on-board environmental controls for the maintenance of the air, temperature, humidity and water quality. We were  then given the challenge of purifying some dirty water using a range of filtration materials.

Back to the dorm by 10.00pm and lights-out by 10.30pm. We should all sleep well again tonight.

It’s been another long but enjoyable day.

By Emma and Samantha.

Day 7

Day 7

Lights on at 8:00, and ready to go by 8:30 sharp. The teachers had convinced us this was going to be a brutal experience so we all braced ourselves for the worst. Breakfast was the first sign that we had been lied to. ‘It’s extremely processed’ claimed Mr Roberts. ‘Kids were craving salad by the end of the week’ said Mrs Mengler. The buffet was filled with many enjoyable foods such as scrambled eggs, hash browns, cereals of all sorts, cinnamon toast and many other breakfast goods.

After a very fulfilling meal, we were divided into groups of 4 and thrown into our first rotation of mission training in which we started to learn about how everything works. Some of the mission training included: piloting the space shuttle, doing a simulated space walk and controlling the space shuttle from mission control. There were many complicated yet common problems that astronauts faced while up in space, and we were beginning to learn the process in how to fix them. The excessive amount of buttons that seem to spread along every possible wall confused pretty much all of us and most times the solution was laid out in a complicated matter which still continued to confuse us even more. After we had completed one of the tasks our team had been assigned, we continued into our second rotation which gave a chance to experience new things and new scenery. (lunch). Lunch was finished and half of the Leeming group got on a bus to a place called Area 51.

 Here we were assigned 2 team building tasks and as a group we completed each task with much anticipation and eagerness. It was a most enjoyable experience for all, but even better when we had to watch Logan mimic actions with no hands as we had all been restricted to no talking. Another bus ride brought us back to Space Camp where we had the opportunity to sit in a real size cinema and watch a documentary about storm/tornado chasers. Many of us took this as an opportunity to regain on sleep we had lost. When the documentary had finished we were rushed back into our third rotation of mission training, and straight after that we completed our last rotation of training for the day. (dinner). The night was coming to an end as you could begin to see the lack of motivation show, while tiredness began to overtake some of us. We began finishing the night with a presentation on fuel cells which brought a spark to some but drained the much needed energy of others. We concluded the night with one final task which involved the design and construction of a single or double staged rocket. A long and packed 14 hour day left most of us dying to get into bed.

 

 

By Lillian and Shauna.

Day 6

Day 6

Day six of the 2013 Leeming USA space camp, was a day of transition. It started off in a luxury hotel in Arlington, and by the end of the day we were in bunk beds in confined rooms in Huntsville at the space camp facility, which would be our home for the next week. The day started off in quite luxurious fashion, as we enjoyed the last of our three world class breakfasts at the Hilton in Arlington. Our awesome leader, Mr Roberts then set us on our way, as he informed us of the daily announcements, and enlightened us on the day’s schedule. After cleaning ourselves up, and getting our possessions in order, we were met at the front of the hotel by the coach that would take us to Baltimore Airport.

We were informed that we were an hour late arriving and we may struggle to board on time. After rushing through check-in and security and running through the terminal we managed to board with 3 minutes to spare. A short one and a half hour flight took us to the busiest airport in the world in Atlanta.  We were soon to know, after we arrived at Atlanta airport, that the next flight had been delayed for an hour and 15 minutes. Within the duration of this period, most of us stocked up on junk food for the week ahead. After the delays finally came to an end, we boarded our flight bound for Huntsville, Alabama which would be the site where we would partake in the space camp program. When we arrived, we collected our luggage and was met by the shuttle bus which then took us to space camp. Prior to arrival, some of us had some preconceptions about the conditions of the campsite. These presumptions were soon put to rest, as we became orientated with the logistics of the campsite, and settled into our dormitories.

As we entered into the evening hours, we had dinner, and then we had our first introductory course of the space camp. We had three information sessions-Mission roles, Parts of the Shuttle and its propulsion systems and Abort procedures.  Following this introduction, the lecturer took us outside and demonstrated practically on a smaller scale about what he had been teaching us; there were three types of fuels the instructor explained, solid rocket fuel, liquid rocket fuel and hypergollic fuel. After this, we learnt more about the mechanics and processes of the spaceship. We were enlightened about the several procedures that may take place in the case of an emergency. We learnt about several different abort techniques such as ATO, RTLS and ECAL.  ATO is Abort-To-Orbit, RTLS is Return-To-Launch-Site and ECAL is East-Coast-Abort-Landing. We were then issued with a Space Camp T-shirt and our Flight Suits.  After all this we prepared ourselves for our first night here at the campsite, and then soon enough it was lights out. In conclusion, day six was a day of transition and travel, and a day of conformity as we tried to change our mindsets from that of a luxurious hotel, to that of a regimented campsite.

By Michael and Sam.