Mike Flachbart: The End of an Era

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Today marks Mike Flachbart’s final day as an employee at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center / Space Camp.

He retires after 29 years in its service, from a Space Camp counselor all the way up to Vice President of Global Operations.

Mike sure has seen it all!

He even oversaw at least one of my graduation ceremonies when I went through Space Academy Level I in August of 1995!

Mike Flachbart Graduates Vincent Vazzo from SA Lvl I in August 1995

Despite Space Camp’s general tendency to obliterate @SpaceCamp twitter accounts upon an employee’s departure, that hasn’t happened to Mike’s account, @SpaceCampBoss (yet)!  You can continue to follow him there (possibly) to find out where the retirement road takes him!

Happy trails, Mike!

Space Camp Astronaut Schedule – Summer 2016

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Some time ago–never mind how long precisely–Space Camp published their Astronaut visitation schedule for summer 2016.

Here, duplicated in full, is that schedule:

Astronaut May June July August
Col. Ken Cameron 5, 6 2, 3
Capt. Wendy Lawrence 12, 13  11, 12
Col. Bob Springer 19, 20 9, 10
Capt. Robert “Hoot” Gibson 26, 27 23, 24 21-22
Ms. Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger 16, 17  14, 16 18, 19
Col. Jerry Ross  30 1 4, 5
Dr. Don Thomas  7, 8, 9, 28, 29

As usual, you don’t have to go to Space Camp for a week to see the Astronauts!  Lunch tickets are available over at the Space Camp Store, though only Jerry Ross / August 5 seems to be available.

In addition to her several appearances in Huntsville throughout the Summer, Dottie will also be traveling to Space Camp Turkey and will be there from August 7th to August 13!

Sunita “Suni” Williams will also be at Space Camp Turkey from July 10 through the 23rd!

Great opportunities abound at Space Camps this summer!

Still Time to Earn a Spot at ISC 2016…

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AIM Buddy Icon - International Space Camp Logo…if you’re in Bulgaria.

The U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria is now accepting applications, and they’re due on June 3rd, 2016!

As usually, two students (usually one young man and one young woman) will be chosen along with an educator.

Technically speaking, the application doesn’t explicitly say you need to be in Bulgaria; I’m sure it’s just an oversight!

It’s a heck of an opportunity though for three lucky individuals, especially considering, “All expenses will be covered by the Embassy of the United States in Sofia.

Let’s Get Larry B Scott Back to Space Camp!

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The 80s theme of this year’s Space Camp Summer Fest stems entirely from the fact that this year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of SpaceCamp into theaters.

As part of the celebration, there will be screenings of the movie throughout the weekend.

It would be a very special thing to have any of the cast show up, wouldn’t it?

The Space Camp Alumni Advancement Board just reached out to Larry B. Scott (“RUDY TYLER, MA’AM!”), attempting to take his temperature on coming back to Space Camp!

I think if we show enough enthusiasm, we might just be able to get him to come!  So follow him on Twitter (@Lbeezee17) and like and retweet the Space Camp stuff!

Space Camp Alumni reach out to Larry B Scott on Twitter

Hall of Fame 2016 – Final Inductee Announced

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George Whitesides of Virgin GalacticThe third and final inductee into the 2016 Space Camp Hall of Fame class, the ceremony to be held as part of the 2016 Space Camp Summer Fest, is none other than Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides!

A Space Camp alum, George oversees the day-to-day development and construction of both the WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo vehicles as Virgin Galactic works towards making space tourism commercially viable!

Like the two other inductees, George spent some time at NASA, receiving NASAs Distinguished Service Medal, amongst many other accolades!

George rounds out an impressive threesome for this year’s Space Camp Hall of Fame class!

It will truly be a pleasure to see their induction at this year’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony!

Hall of Fame 2016 – Second Inductee Announced

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Jason HopkinsHot off the presses, Space Camp has just released the second individual who will be inducted at this year’s Space Camp Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, part of the 2016 Space Camp Summer Fest!

Jason Hopkins of Masten Space Systems!

And before working business development at Masten, Jason spent all kinds of time down at The Cape as a VAB/Crawler Element Operations Manager, amongst a multitude of other duties during his time there!

Congratulations, Jason!

We all look forward to seeing you in July!

Hall of Fame 2016 – First Inductee Announced

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Amy KaminskiThe 2016 Space Camp Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, part of Space Camp Summer Fest 2016, is just around the corner!

Today, the very first inductee was announced!

Amy Kaminski, Senior Policy Advisor, Office of the Chief Scientist at NASA!

Before NASA, Amy spent time working at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as well as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

And before all of that, she was a Space Camper!

Congratulations, Amy!

Space Camp (and SpaceCamp) Featured on The Goldbergs

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Last night on ABC, season 3, episode 22 of The Goldbergs aired and featured Space Camp throughout the episode!

A show set in the 80s, this episode started off with the main Goldberg child at the movies with his friends watching SpaceCamp and Jinx!

If you have a cable package, you can go watch it yourself over at ABC’s site: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-goldbergs.  If you don’t have a cable package, it will be available there next week.  If you have a Hulu subscription, you can watch it over there.The Goldbergs - SpaceCamp

It’s not Old, it’s Vintage

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Homage Guy in Space Camp T-ShirtMy initial impression upon seeing the new Space Camp T-Shirt from Homage, an Ohio clothing retailer that “turns back the clock with shout outs to eclectic moments and personalities in sports, music, politics, and popular culture,” was to wonder why on Earth anyone would want to buy the very same T-Shirt that you can get at Space Camp, except at a higher price!

On good days, I forget all about what I long-ago dubbed the “DAD” (Disappointed Astronaut Dad) logo.  And I’ve forgotten that blue shirts with the Space Camp logo aren’t readily available anymore.  Until now, at least!

Everything that’s old is new again!

Homage is also sponsoring a contest to send you and a friend to Adult Space Camp!

Enter here.  Good luck!

 

NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge Tomorrow and Saturday

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NASA Rover Challenge LogoThe annual NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge Tomorrow and Saturday (formally The Great Moonbuggy Race) begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center!

The race begins at 7am both days! Come early! It’s a pretty exciting thing to check out!

Students from around the world make rovers and compete on a course around the Space Center! Amongst the many engineering challenges, the students’ rovers can’t use air pressure in their tires and the entire vehicle must fold up and fit withing a small amount of space (3 cubic feet, I think)!

If you can’t make it out, Marshall Space Flight Center will be streaming video live both days on their Ustream Channel!  The event will be live-tweeted as well @RoverChallenge.