Though filming occurred in October, A Smile as Big as the Moon is ready for its premiere.
The movie will show on January 29 at 9pm EST on ABC.
And a trailer has been posted:
You can visit Space Camp’s web page for the movie to find premieres in Huntsville, Houston, and Grand Rapids, Michigan if you can’t wait until the 29th and want to see it a little early.
The book itself is getting a reissue as well, and will be released ahead of the movie on January 17th.
Kaya Tuncer, founder of Space Camp Turkey, passed away on January 7, 2012. He was 74 years old.
Space Camp is participating in Black Friday this year with their own Hab-Buster special!
At 12:01am (CST, presumably), the first 8 people to book a Space Camp or Aviation Challenge week online will get it for $499. After the first 8 are sold, you can book through November 28 for $749.
The email that went out claims boldly, “THIS WILL BE OUR ONLY DISCOUNT FOR 2012.”
Not too shabby!
It’s no secret that the Space & Rocket Center has had some financial issues as of late. Numerous staff have been laid off or transferred to temporary employees to save money.
Some additional relief has just been found as the City of Huntsville is giving the Space & Rocket Center $250,000 to help. The timing is very good as well. Summer is over and the Space & Rocket Center the non-busy season is underway.
All the way back in 2002, you may remember that I reviewed the book, A Smile as Big as the Moon, a wonderful story about a group of special needs kids who manage to get themselves to Space Camp despite internal and external obstacles.
My book report ended with the following:
And for you Space Camp movie fans out there pining for a SpaceCamp 2 (aren’t we all?!), you may just get it! The very last thing I read in this book was the inside jacket cover. I was quite thrilled when my eyes came across a sentence that read, “The film rights for [Mike Kersjes’] book have been sold to Jerry Bruckheimer for Walt Disney Pictures.”
Fast-forward to nine years later and here we are. A Smile as Big as the Moon is about to go into production!
The movie is to be produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame and will air on the ABC network sometime in 2012.
Filming is set to take place in Wilmington, NC but scenes will be shot at Space Camp also!
The Space Camp scenes are currently scheduled to be filmed later this month.
The movie will star John Corbett as Coach Mike Kersjes and Jessy Schram as teacher Robynn McKinny.
On Friday, the Space & Rocket Center laid off five employees this past Friday and converted seven more from full-time to part-time or temporary positions.
It is reported this will save the Center $500,000 in the new fiscal year.
The layoffs were reported on Friday by the Huntsville Times. Visit this link for the article.
Wes over at Sprocketeers has his own take on the situation as well.
I have nothing to add other then, if they’re looking to save money, I do hope loans have been refinanced in light of record low interest rates.
As of this posting time, 12-day ASA is filled with a waiting list to boot!
Aviation Challenge still has one spot remaining. If you’re interested, eligible, and reading this, call right now!
Registration for 12 day has begun!
If you’re interested, call 1-800-63-SPACE before it’s too late!
Both Aviation Challenge and Advanced Space Academy will see popular 12 day options return next year. Registration will open up on September 20th at 7am CDT. Call 1-800-63-SPACE to make your reservation.
Both ASA and AC 12-day programs will run from June 17-29, 2012.
The cost to attend is $1849.
12 Day AC and ASA have been known to fill up fast, so be at the ready on Tuesday morning!
The Salute to the Shuttle Program, the combined Space Exploration Celebration and Space Camp Hall of Fame event, will be held this evening at the Davidson Center.
The event is sold out!
Even if you can’t attend the event tonight, be sure to head over to the Space & Rocket Center today. Starting at 2:00pm, there will be a number of different panels:
| 2:00 p.m. | NASA’s Space Launch System – Key to Space Exploration Topic
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| 3:15 p.m. | Where We’ve Been (“Why We Built the Space Shuttle”)
How We’ve Changed (“Evolution of a Great Flying Machine”)
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| 4:00 p.m. | Where Are We Going?
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| 4:30 –
5:30 p.m. |
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