Space Camp is an educational camp in Huntsville, Alabama, on the grounds of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (USSRC) museum near NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.[1] It provides residential and educational programs for children and adults on topics such as space exploration, aviation, and robotics. Run by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, more than 900,000 campers have attended since its inception in 1982, including several NASA and ESA astronauts.[2]
History
Space Camp was founded in 1982 by Wernher von Braun and U.S. Space and Rocket Center Executive Director Edward O. Buckbee as an educational camp to promote math and science to children using United States space program as a basis. The idea for Space Camp came to von Braun in 1977 while touring the U.S. Space and Rocket Center where he noticed a group of schoolchildren taking notes on what they were learning. He said to the museum director Edward O. Buckbee, "You know, we have all these camps for youngsters in this country - band camps and cheerleader camps and football camps. Why don't we have a science camp?"[3][4]
U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center and Space Camp (formerly U.S. Space Camp) in Huntsville are operated by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, which is a state agency whose members are appointed by the Governor of Alabama.
The non-profit U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation is a separate entity and members of its board are not appointed by the governor. It is responsible for scholarship fund-raising and the licensing of camps outside the United States. There are a number of internationally licensed Space Camps, including Space Camp Turkey, Space Camp Canada (known as "Camp Spatial" in French), and Space Camp Belgium.
Space Camp Florida
Space Camp Florida opened in 1988 and shared facilities with the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Florida, both of which were operated by the now-defunct U.S. Space Camp Foundation. The Space Camp facility in Florida closed in 2002 due to low attendance, leading to financial difficulties. About 50,000 children attended the camp during its run, but in its final year, as few as 14 participants filled 276 slots.[5] The Astronaut Hall of Fame was sold to the Delaware North corporation and remained open until 2015 as an added attraction to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with several simulators previously used by the camp available to all visitors.[6] As of 2020[update], the building was being used by Lockheed Martin to support work on the NASA Orion crew capsule.[7]
Space Camp California
Space Camp California was operated by the now defunct U.S. Space Camp Foundation at Mountain View, California from 1996 to 2002, when it closed due to financial difficulties.[8]
Space Camp Hall of Fame
The Space Camp Hall of Fame began in 2007 during the 25th-anniversary celebrations. According to the website, the hall was "designed to honor graduates, former employees and supporters who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers or made considerable in-kind contributions in an effort to help further the goals of the Space Camp program."[9]
Program names are used to define the age or focus group for which the specific program targets, with Space Camp referring to both a camp program and the parent organization. The camp offers programs for various ages and durations of visits. The majority of attendees visit during the summer, though spring and fall often see many school group visits, parent and child bonding camps, and adult or corporate programs.[12]
Space Camp is a six-day program offered for children between 9 and 11 years old. The curriculum is designed to balance education and entertainment. Children enrolling in Space Camp can choose from one of three "tracks" of activities and study: space, aviation, and robotics. Space Camp was the first of the camp programs offered, and is used as the umbrella organization name.
Space Academy is a program intended for ages 12–14, offered in six-day sessions.
Advanced Space Academy is designed for 15 to 18-year-olds. The program was originally known as Space Academy Level II and was started in the Fall of 1987. In 1987 the Space Academy Level II program was college accredited (1 hour) through the University of Alabama Huntsville. It also offered programs for adults as the first class to go through Level II were adults. The Family Camp[13] program allows parents or guardians to attend Space Camp with their child aged 7–12 years. The program is run throughout the year, lasts three to four days, and includes activities in which the adult and child work together. Family Camp also has an Aviation Challenge option, designed for children and their accompanying adults, offered during the summer months.
Advanced Space Academy Elite is offered to graduates of the Advanced Space Academy program and has several exclusive features, such as scuba diving. Additionally, Space Camp has previously offered a twelve-day Advanced Space Academy program that includes features such as multiple missions, scuba diving, use of some of the Aviation Challenge facilities, and a twenty-four-hour extended duration mission.
Scholarships
Space Camp offers scholarships for children who have academic talent, leadership skills, or disadvantages such as disabilities, financial needs and other.[14]
SCI-VIS
In cooperation with teachers of visually impaired students, Space Camp operates a week-long Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students by providing the same experience to visually impaired students as sighted students. Adaptations are made to the computer systems campers use in activities and simulations to provide speech and large print output. Adapted materials, including handbooks translated in Braille and equipment, are used during the camp.
Deaf Space Camp
In cooperation with teachers, Space Camp operates a week-long program for deaf and hard-of-hearing students by providing the same experience to hearing-impaired students as hearing students. Communication is supported by a dedicated team of American Sign Language interpreters as well as through visual and written media. To allow equal access to the audio of films, most museum & camp movies have open or closed captions including the theater, which provides a rear-window captioning system. To replace microphone or headset technology, students use live stream video between mission control and the shuttle simulator.
In addition to participating in typical camp activities and simulations, students often have the opportunity to meet and interact with deaf adults who work in science-related fields and learn about the many contributions deaf individuals [16] such as Annie Jump Cannon (astronomer),[17][18]Tsiolkovsky (considered of a "father of Rocketry"),[18][19] and Dr. Thomas Wheeler (deaf NASA aerospace engineer)[20][21] have made to astronomy, space exploration and science education. The program has been intact for 38 years. [22]
Other programs
Other programs include corporate programs, programs for adults and educators, educational field-trip programs for school groups, and the X-Camp outdoor leadership camp. There were also special alumni sessions during the summer of the 25th anniversary.
Occasionally themed camps have been offered, usually in conjunction with museum exhibits. During the summer of 2010, a Jedi Experience camp was offered in connection with the museum traveling exhibit Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.[23]
Aviation Challenge
Aviation Challenge, or AC, is an umbrella branding for a set of aviation oriented camps at Space Camp, consisting of three main programs for children from ages 9–18. As an aviation oriented camp, the fundamental teaching aids are computer based flight simulators, which are intended to train attendees to fly, act, and think like United States Air Force, Navy or Marinefighter pilots.
Space Camp additionally uses rides or attractions that are on site at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center as instructional tools. The Space Shot simulates liftoff, and the G-Force Accelerator simulates the G-forces put on astronauts while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere or during launch.
The Intuitive Planetarium provides a venue for presenting space and science-oriented shows produced through a Digistar 7 system and 5 Christie laser projectors.[24] The planetarium is part of the center's museum complex.[25] In February 2019, the Intuitive Planetarium replaced the Spacedome IMAX theater, which operated at the Center since 1982.[24]
Accommodation
Space Camp Habitat 1 facility
If a Space Camp program takes more than one day, campers stay at the space camp's Habitat 1 or Habitat 2. Habitat 1 is a large building designed to house young people. Male and female campers are usually assigned to separate floors. Space Camp resident assistant crew trainers are housed in rooms adjacent to student sleeping quarters. Restrooms are gender-specific and have separated shower and toilet stalls.
Aviation Challenge trainees stay in Habitat 3 where they are required to maintain military standards to their bays and racks. There are two floors to Habitat 3. Males live on half of the ground floor and all of the second floor. Female trainees stay on the other half of the first floor. The bays are named after famous aircraft carriers. The camp has a cafeteria where campers receive meals.
