HESA Space Camp Day 2

After an exhausting first day at camp I assumed I would be dragging the next day.  I woke up super refreshed and ready to see what was in store for Day 2.  After breakfast (they fed us really well the entire time) my team was taken to a room where we were given instructions to make a mission patch for our team. After lots of brainstorming we decided we wanted to give all three of our countries a section and bring them together in the middle to show that we are working towards the mission to Mars.  As teachers we are preparing our students for this space journey that will take place when they are adults.  We wanted to show that in the middle of our patch.

Columbus Mission Patch

After working on our mission patch we were taken to a place on campus called Area 51.  Our team was broken into two groups and assigned a mentor for our time there.  We completed four low elements courses that challenged our communication skills and teamwork.  All of the courses were great team building activities that many of us were anxious to bring back to our own classrooms.

We were taken back to the US Space and Rocket Center for a class that we were able to sign up for the previous day.  I signed up for the math class and it was a great class that I will definitely use in my classroom. This activity used large Lego building blocks, mulch, dirt, a gutter, pieces of wood or books, and three various sized balls.  The goal was to build the tallest and strongest structure you could that would withstand the boulders (3 balls) that would come rolling down the gutter, which was filled with "dirt" from Mars. 

After our classes our team met back up to train for our Alpha Mission.  This mission was one of two that we would complete as a team.  My job for this mission was CAPCOM so I was the only mission control specialist that would be able to communicate with the astronauts on the shuttle.  During training we were given our job duties, instructions on how to do our job, and we got to practice our mission up to liftoff.  Our actual mission took place on Day 3, so more to come on that later.

CAPCOM Work Station

Our final activity for Day 2 was a rocketry workshop.  We were students in a lesson where we built a rocket.  The kit for the rocket was provided.  After building our rockets we got to spray paint them outside. We were scheduled to launch our rockets on Day 4.

Team Columbus Rocketry