Sunday

Sunday was a fairly easy day for me. I was able to watch my teammates scuba dive for about two hours. We then had our Bravo and Charlie Missions. Again, each of these missions were 1 hour in length. We concluded the day with a trip to the Aviation Challenge Area. There we were put into a Mach 2 Jet Simulator. We practiced our take off, flying and landing skills in very cool simulators. I will attach a picture of me in the Sims. Following we went to a Flight Physiology lesson and to the Centrifuge. The Centrifuge put three times our body weight pressure on us as it spun in a circle. I will try to add the video. This was a busy day which lasted until 10:00 pm.

Saturday ~ SCUBA!!!!!!!

Scuba Diving! I have found a new passion in life! For two hours Saturday morning I learned what it was like to be an astronaut training for neutral bouyancy in a 24 foot deep tank! I loved every minute of it. After testing my breathing, swimming, and ear popping skills I spent 25 minutes under the water! We played with 100lb cement balls that I was able to lift with little trouble. Torpedo throwing, rocket launching, and satelite deployment were some of the tasks we were asked to complete. I will incude a couple pictures of this amazing opportunity!

We trained for our second two missions after scuba. During our Alpha mission I was assigned a role in mission control. During the Bravo mission I was Pilot of the Orbiter Endeavor. During the Charlie mission I was a scientist aboard the International Space Station. Again, each of these missions were one hour each in length and so far we have only completed the training!

Saturday night, Honeywell sponsored a dinner for all week 1, week 2, and advanced Space Camp participants. This meant that over 250 people were shipped to Tennessee for a party on BBQ Hill! The party was a blast with the highlight being the guest speaker, Homer Hickam. He is the author of "Rocket Boys" which the movie October Sky is based off of.

Friday

Friday included classes on Space Medicine and answering the question of what happens when an astronaut gets sick? We talked about flight suits to protect the astronauts and had an introduction the scuba diving. We trained for our first of three, one hour mission simulations, and also had a guest speaker, 6 time astronaut Story Musgrave. I have included a picture of myself with story. If you are able to link to last years blog, you will see the picture that I had taken with him last year as well!

Ropes

On Friday, after returning from Florida, we had a full day at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. We began the day with a high ropes course and zip line. Let me tell you that it was a high climb to the top! After some encouragement from teammates I finally took the plunge and trusted myself to zip through the air to the ground below. Pictured is my teammate zipping through the air! The next picture shows three of us climbing to the top of the tower. Brenda (Canada) is on the left, I am in the middle, and our fearless leader "Shaggy" is on the right. There is a picture also of us standing at the bottom.

Moon Lunar Module

Mr. Rand holding up a replica of the Moon Lunar Module at the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Kennedy Space Center Continues

After a full day on Tuesday, Wednesday brought us back to Kennedy. We began the day with a three hour session at the Educator Resource Center. There we met with Shirish Patel who is the Space Shuttle Payloads Project Manager. It was amazing to hear what his role is to make sure the shuttles payload is ready for launch.

Following this, we were given a chance to explore on our own. The iMax movie on mans travels to the moon during the Apollo Missions and the drive to put us back on the moon was remarkable to think about. To end the Kennedy experience we headed to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Seeing flight suits, helmets, and actual capsules used during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs were highlights. The Astronauts who are willing to risk their lives for space exploration and the chance to read their stories is something that I look forward to sharing with my students at Cedar Manor.