Well readers… Space Campers 2003 set off on Saturday 13th September for their sixteen day adventure in the big, wide, wonderful world!!! The group was as follows:
Lachlan: 12 years old in Year 7 from Cobram (the all-time
youngest Australian Space Camper!)
Ben: 15 years old in Year 9 from Ballarat - read
the letter to his sponsors
Nathan: 15 years old in Year 9 from Mordialloc - read
his report
Matthew: 18 years old in Year 11 from Bentleigh - read
his report
Janie McLeod: Visiting Teacher, Northern Metropolitan Region
and Space Camper 2001 - read her report
Faye Squires: Visiting Teacher, Goulburn North Eastern Region
- read her first reflections
Link to: group photo
Families and chaperones agreed that the fundraising was a major event (well, there are always large hurdles to overcome when you decide to take a bunch of kids out of the country) and until almost the last minute, it looked like there would be a serious shortfall – still, everyone’s hard work paid off. Jeni Blake and her trusty crew of sausage sizzlers have triumphed… Our supporters – old and new – came to the party again – special thanks again to Guide Dogs Victoria and Quantum Technology!
Before the departure one parent threatened to throw herself wailing to the floor – so it promised to be an interesting experience… Everyone met at 7.30am at the Air New Zealand desk numbers 32 and 33 in the International Departure section of Melbourne Airport.
The following came from the delightful Nathan, another Space Camper who’d do it all again tomorrow!!!
It was an early morning in Melbourne and the weather was much the same as it always is, warm then cold. I think me going to America only sunk in when I was on my way to the airport. Maybe that’s why I was so quiet in the car. Even though I had been selling sausages for 5 weeks prior to leaving. When I got to the Airport, I didn’t see anyone there just yet. Probably because two of the people I went with lived out of Melbourne. So me and my parents went and got something to eat. I didn’t have breakfast that morning probably because I was nervous. It was still early when people from my group started to arrive, but Melbourne international still had a lot of people considering the time of day.
So we all got our things together and got our tickets. Surprisingly my bag wasn’t over weight! We waited on some seats near the entrance to the departures lounge for a while then we all said our goodbyes and took last minute photos. At the time I felt good because I had worked so hard to get there. No matter which airport you are or at what time there is always a long line! Thus was the case at the customs section of the airport.
Finally I was on the plane and we were on our way to America, but first it was off to Auckland International. For some reason I hate New Zealand airport now, probably because every time I’m there I have to wait 8 hours before my next flight. But we shopped for a bit and finally got on the plane to LA. I have never sat down for so long in my life. The plane trip from New Zealand to LA was amazing. But the movies on board where good, but still it was a long and very weird experience, especially when I looked at the sun rising at 12:00am.
LAX was huge but not as glamorous as I expected. We had to wait a long time for our bus to Anaheim. Disneyland was a lot of fun but it was very easy to get burnt. Unfortunately Space Mountain was closed as well as a few other rides and attractions. The best ride was in the other part of the park and was a roller coaster called California Screemin’.
Next up was Knott’s Berry Farm. It was the best theme park I had ever been to. Next was San Diego Zoo, it was huge but we got through it a lot quicker than we thought. The animal show was good and informative. We woke up early the next day and set off for Huntsville, Alabama where Space Camp is. It took about a day to get to know every one but by the end of it everyone was friends.
The best parts about Space Camp were the missions and scuba diving, which I have never done before until now. And the food isn’t all that bad. My job in the six hour mission was, Mission Scientist and Station Commander. Both were great jobs and a lot of fun to do. We made three-stage rockets but unfortunately we didn’t get to launch them as there wasn’t enough time in the day.
I enjoyed Space Camp very much and if I was given the opportunity I would go again in a heartbeat.
The 2003 Space Campers came back to Earth in Melbourne. They reported that they had a wonderful trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, of course riding on the most daredevillish attractions, and enjoyed the amazing experience of Space Camp.
Upon asking each of the four boys to nominate a high point of the camp or trip, varied answers were given:
Lachlan: meeting and working with the team
Ben: the missions
Matt: the friendships, fun and missions
Nathan: the food and I suspect his pink teddy bear, which he and the rest of us, managed to carry back from California!
On their return from 18 days in the United States this year the general consensus of the four boys who went was, “I want to go back to Space Camp next year.” It really was the best trip that young people could have, and it says a lot for Space Camp that they preferred the week they spent there to the exciting first week at the theme parks.
In the first week the boys experienced another culture and saw a world very different to their own. They learnt to live in one room together, to make allowances for each other and to make decisions taking everyone’s point of view into consideration.
We then flew to Huntsville, Alabama where the US Space and Rocket Center runs four different programs for students during the week. In this particular week of the year the students all have vision impairments so books are prepared and switches are labelled in braille and large print. Students from all over the world can attend and we met 143 young people from Ireland, Canada and US, many of them totally blind.
The students were divided into teams of about fifteen and started their training to become astronauts in one of three different settings: Mission Control, the Space Station and the Obiter. They attended lectures on astronomy and the history of space flight, heard a blind chemical scientist talk about the work he does for NASA, saw an IMAX movie of life in the international space station, used simulators that astronauts use to adjust to 1/6 gravity, heard the sounds made by the sun and Jupiter from a radio telescope and built and fired small rockets. One student was able to learn Scuba diving in order to learn to work in a weightless environment just as real astronauts do. The students had 3 one hour practice missions leading up to a 6 hour mission where they had to deal with problems such as a meteor storm and one astronaut breaking a leg.
I could see positive changes in the boys even in the time we were away. Their parents have commented on the difference the experience has made to their sons’ maturity, their self-confidence, their view of the world and their interest in different aspects of computers and science. Some used not to talk about their vision impairment at all but now are able to do so and realize that they manage better than others with less sight than their own.
The many benefits the students gained included learning the importance of teamwork, greater confidence in decision-making and risk-taking, an easier acceptance of their vision impairment and increased self-confidence. They are keen to keep in touch with their new friends overseas and they are emailing their new friends already.
Space camp this year was great and challenging. We did rocket building and different simulators such as the ‘5 degrees of freedom’. The best parts where the 3 one hour and the 6 hour mission in which I took on the role of Pilot and Cap Com. It was great meeting new people and there were two people I got along with mainly in our group - Teresa and Adrian. During the 6 hour mission Adrian swapped into the role of Cap Com for the second half and visa versa.
It was interesting to see that many people want to visit Australia; I have spoken to at least 6 who want to come over. I had my first experience at an IMAX theatre.
I thought Disneyland was a great experience and the California Adventure kept me interested with the best thing being the Roller Coaster. Knotts Berry Farm would have to be the most enjoyable of all the parks, I would go there again, for sure. Mainly for the Accelerator @ 80mph.
These are some of the things that I did on my trip to America.
We left Australia at 10:30 am on Saturday 13/9/03; we had a stopover in Auckland and arrived LAX Saturday afternoon. For the next 3 days we spent our time at Disneyland. I thought Disneyland was overrated but Californian Adventure was good because it had California Screamin’, a big roller coaster with a loop.
The next day we spent at Knotts Berry farm. It was excellent. It had a roller coaster that went from 0-82 miles in 2.3 seconds and it had heaps of cool rides and the world’s biggest wooden roller coaster. The San Diego Zoo was good because we got to see pandas and it had a sky rail. But I’m not really interested in animals so it was a bit boring.
We left LA and flew into Huntsville via Dallas. I liked Huntsville because it was more rural than LA and it was not as hot as LA.
At space camp we were put into teams. My team was called Charon. We did 2 simulated missions; I was the launch/landing director. We went on 5 different simulation machines. They simulated weightlessness and tumble rolls. We had our graduation on the Thursday night. Our team won the outstanding team award.
The following day we went back to LA and then to Sea World. The whales at Sea World were good. After Sea World we went home. We had 7 hour stop over in New Zealand on the way home. It was real boring. We got in to Melbourne at 8:15 on the 30/9/03.
We all had a really great time and I’d like to go back again, especially to be part of the Aviation Challenge.
Below (left to right): Faye, Ben, Nathan, Lachlan, Matt and Janie
For more photos of Space Camp 2003 go to: www.tsbvi.edu/space/2003/index.htm
For more information about Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, go to: www.tsbvi.edu/space/index.htm
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