Mrs. Osika

All the children woke up early
and bright eyed. They all
claimed that they got a good
night's sleep and were ready for
what the new day would bring
them. They started their day
with a class on space age
acronyms and then went to an Imax
movie entitled "Magnificent
Desolation". They were then off
to construct their rockets which
they will launch later in the
week. Rocket building was
challenging as they needed to
follow directions carefully and
use their fine motor skills to
glue and place the fins
properly. They were told that if
they weren't precise their rocket
may plunge downward instead of
upward spelling disaster. Of
course, no one wants that to
happen. If their rocket lands in
one piece they will be able to
bring it home--otherwise it goes
to rocket heaven.

After a good lunch the team was
off to the MM Unit Simulator. The
MMU used to retrieve and repair
satellites. It uses the 5
degrees of freedom and is
controlled by a joystick.

Like the astronauts the students
were able to control the MM Unit
by maneuvering the joystick.
Since most of our students are
well versed on computer games
most had no trouble moving about
the way they desired.

Although our students are seated
on a chair with the backpack
attached to the chair, the
astronauts would have the
backpack attached to their backs.

Our daytime counselor remarked
that he never had a group that
asked soooooo many questions.
That's a good thing---don't you
agree?????

After class the students went to
the rocket park and enjoyed
themselves by riding on the space
shot. One of their favorite
snacks is the Italian shaved ice--
-I have to admit it really is
very good.

We are very impressed with this
group--so far it appears that
they are the most independent
group that we have brought to
space camp so far.