Space Camp – Day#3
We started out today with a Team Unity photo underneath the
Space Shuttle Endeavor. Dang! We are a great looking bunch of Space Cadets!
Next, we went to the simulation area to learn more about our
Orion Mission. We were shown around the
SOCR (Shackleton Operations Control Room), Capsule, Lunar Lander, and the base
on the Moon, named Rising Star.
We then
broke down into our jobs and learned about the simulation computer software and
communications hardware. After
practicing our parts, I felt more confident about my position as CAPCOM.
The actual running of the Orion Mission Simulation took
about 2 hours + 30 minutes of debriefing.
Most everything ran smoothly – except the time when we jettisoned the
lunar lander before the crew had successfully made it back into the orbiter. Oops!
Don’t worry though, we went back to retrieve them. No lives were lost on our mission.
I was very nervous at the beginning of the mission, because
I had to listen to so many people at the same time, solve anomalies, gain
consensus from the other SOCR members, and relay information to the Orbiter
Commander and Pilot. I was told by the
CAPCOM on the first mission that it was a very difficult job.
It really was challenging, but SOCR worked out a method to
help each other follow the mission time clock, solve problems, and get people
to and from the Moon safely.
It was fun saying things like, “Commander, this is CAPCOM,
we are ready for docking with the lander in T – 5 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, mark. Please confirm when you have a hard dock with
the lander.” I even got to call out the
count down for take off and announce at the end of the mission that we had a
successful splashdown. “Welcome home to
the members of the Orion Mission.”
Pilot Whitney Commander Gillian
Other activities today included the X-Prize Lunar Rover and
Lander. We had to analyze hydrogen ion,
solar radiation, temperature, and time facing the Earth data to determine the
best of seven places to locate a permanent base on the moon. After we came to a consensus, we then had to
build a lunar rover and a lander. Our
astronaut was a raw egg. It had to fit
within the rover and the rover had to fit within the lander. We had a budget and time constraints. Each team had to drop their lander from 25
feet. We received points for 1) being
closest to the target, 2) not “killing” our astronaut, and 3) how far our rover
went after rolling down a ramp. It was a
lot of fun!
The Drop
The Landing
The Roll Out of the Rover
Before dinner, we
did astronaut simulators. These included
a MMU (Manned Maneuvering Unit) trainer, 1/6 gravity Moon simulator, and a
gyroscopic trainer. I am proud to say
that I did try all three. The gravity
simulator was a lot of fun ~ the gyroscopic trainer was a bit intense! Click here for pictures and video of the multi-axis trainer used at Space Camp: http://wn.com/multi-axis_trainer/
We finished our day learning about the air and water
filtration systems on the ISS (International Space Station). As a related activity, we were then given a
quantity of very dirty water and asked to design and build a filtration
system. Again, we had a budget and time
constraints. Points were awarded for 1)
pH closest to 7.0, 2) hydrogen ion conductivity, and 3) amount of final water
to be collected after going through the filter system. Additional points were awarded to groups that
drank the water at the end of the procedure.
What a challenge! I wish we could
do it again after hearing all of the team’s presentations. (Yes,
my team was crazy enough to drink some of the water after the procedure.) :o)
Oh, I almost forgot . . . we had some alien visitors show up
in the Rising Star Moon Base during our mission! What a fun time.
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