Space Academy for Educators

The U.S. Space and Rocket Center (USSRC) in Huntsville, Alabama has a program that they call "Space Camp" where they take kids through a one-week course of simulated astronaut training. There is an adult version, called the "Space Academy for Educators", that is designed to help teachers bring space science to the classroom. During the Summer of 2009 I was chosen by the company Honeywell to go to the camp, at their expense. I had a great time, learned a lot, and brought some great ideas and activities back to share with my students!

Much of our time was spent in various workshops, learning how to incorporate things like model rockets or water bottle rockets into our classrooms. But we also toured the various facilities, including their version of "Rocket Park" (where I attempted unsuccessfully to hitch a ride on their full-scale Lunar Lander model).

We had a good time training on various devices that wouldn't have been too out of place at an amusement park, like the multi-axis trainer, a low-gravity "moonwalk" simulator, a giant centrifuge, and a vertical accelerator. We also got to play around in a space station mock-up, where I was sure to get a photo in one of the "sleeping bags" the astronauts use so as not to float around while sleeping. And we had swimming pool training in simulated parachute landings (using a zip-line) and evacuating from a water crash-landing.

The highlight of the week, though, was getting to take part in two simulated missions using USSRC's sophisticated trainers. During each mission we had six people working as astronauts in a shuttle simulator (a commder, a pilot, two mission specialists, and two payload specialists), five people working as astronauts in a space station simulator (a commander, two flight engineers, and two station scientists), and the rest were in Mission Control (a flight director, the "CAPCOM" communications person, and assorted other system monitors). We changed jobs between the two missions, in order to have as many different experiences as possible.

I wanted to test myself with the stress and responsibility of a leadership position, and I was also anxious to be assigned to be a member of the shuttle crew, so I was quite excited to learn that I had been chosen to be the Shuttle Commander for the first mission. I was in charge of the crew during the mission, but most of my time was actually spent going over checklists and operating hundreds (thousands?) of switches under a strict and busy timetable. With the assistance of the pilot I coordinated us before and during the simulated lift-off, rendezvous and docking with the space station, and then the undocking and trip home, all while the mission and payload specialists performed a multitude of experiments and spacewalks. At the end of the mission I landed the shuttle, which had its own set of challenges- during the final few seconds before touchdown there was a list of twenty or so different tasks to perform, most of them simultaneously. It was incredibly stressful, but also extremely fun!

For the second mission I was positioned in Mission Control, as the Mission Scientist. It wasn't nearly as stressful or event-filled as the Shuttle Commander position, but since I was the only person in Mission Control who had previously been on the Shuttle I was uniquely qualified to help with troubleshooting some of the problems that we had to deal with. I also had to deal with some emergencies with the Space Station group, to include a minor fire, an escaped spider (which led to two astronauts going into simulated shock after being "bitten", and a solar radiation event that meant everyone had to take shelter underneath a shield that left them looking like a foil-wrapped baked potato. It was a lot of fun.

I came home with a lot of new material to share with my students. I already knew a lot about NASA and space exploration because of my school's location near Johnson Space Center, but I learned a lot more through this experience and am extremely grateful to Honeywell for footing the bill!

To read an article that appeared in the Bay Area Citizen about my selection for this trip, click here.