Day 3

The third day was the last full day the campers had before they had to present their experiments, so it was obviously a very busy and productive day. They started off by presenting their mission badges to the whole group. The campers were then given more guidelines on how to move forward with designing their experiment and creating the presentation before they got back to work on said experiments and presentations. They worked until it was time to brush up on their communications skills with a presentation from Michelle Lucas.  

After a lunch break, the campers tested out their communication skills by working with their groups to create a list of things they would take to mars if they had to live there for 3 years. They then had to present their lists and were given pointers on how they could improve at communicating.  The campers were then allowed more time to spend preparing for tomorrow's big presentation. 

Don Thomas gave a talk about how the body is affected during space travel and then it was time to move on to award. The Bleacher Creatures (made up of Lenna Yong, Tamara Jay, Reagan Warford, Caleb Matthews and Finn O'Neill) won the award for the best mission patch. The other reward was given to the Dragons (made up of Seth Fouts, Leea McRoberts, Kinley Lewis, Austin Adams, and Ian Lewis) for best presentation during the communications activity.

The day came to an end with the camper's last dinner at camp and the rest of the night was devoted to each group finishing up their project.  The projects will be presented today at 1:00 p.m. and then parents or family members will be able to join their campers once again for the final award ceremony at 4:15 p.m. 

Day 2

The second day of camp started out with another breakfast and walk to Button Auditorium for a talk from Dr. Tara Ruttley, Lead Hardware Engineer for the Health Maintenance System on the ISS. Following that, was a presentation from Daniele, an Italian scientist from the exomedicine institute.

Afterward, the campers moved into the Button Drill Room for a presentation by Dr. Michael Fultz, a biology professor at Morehead State University, on the scientific method.  Next, Danielle Gibson, Craft Academy graduate who has sent an experiment to the ISS, led a discussion on bio-luminescence in algae and had each team design a hypothetical experiment to present. 

The students took a break from the algae lesson to hear Don Thomas gave a talk about spacesuits and every camper was put in a drawing for a chance to try on a space suit that has actually been in space.

The campers then returned to Danielle and were guided through an experiment that applied what they had already learned about luminescence in algae.  First, they had to apply mathematics to properly dilute a solution. The campers were told to hypothesize which concentration would bio-luminesce the brightest. Then the lights were turned off and the students had to test out their hypothesis and present their results. 

The day wrapped up with the teams coming together to work on their project and mission patches and then everybody left to get ready for evening activities.

It was a very exciting night for the campers as they attended a public talk from Don Thomas about the time a woodpecker attacked his space shuttle. The talk was held in the Star Theater section of the Space Science Center and detailed the time NASA had to delay a mission for a month because one pesky and determined woodpecker decided to destroy the outer layer of an exterior fuel tank. His presentation included a chance for campers to pretend to be the woodpecker by using a pen to peck through the kind of foam that would have been on the outside of the more exterior fuel tank. He concluded with a book signing and campers left for dinner and an art project. 

However, the night was definitely not over. As soon as it got dark campers were led up to eagle lake to enjoy a public star party where they were given the chance to look through several different telescopes. It was a fantastic and informative day, that finished with a beautiful night of stargazing. 

Night 1- After Curriculum Activities

After a long day of learning, it was time for the campers to get dinner and relax with fun activities for the rest of the night.  Dinner was served at the Space Science Center and immediately followed by a show in the star theater. 

Once back at the dorm, the campers had time to try new things in a variety of fun activities. One group got to combine ingredients to make delicious ice cream while another group learned how to solder their very own light up buttons. There was also a station for them to heat press their own shirt in any font or color they chose. In another activity, students learned science and culinary skills in the process of the spherification of a strawberry puree. 

But the night wasn't over yet! At 9:40, the students flooded outside for a short dance party and to watch the International Space Station pass overhead.  Overall, the first full day of camp was packed with fun and learning from sunrise til sunset.

Day 1- The Teams are Born

The Craft Academy's first Annual Go for Launch residential camp, officially kicked off last night, July 24th. After they moved in and attended orientation with their parents, they said good bye to their family and set off for a campus tour after having dinner.  The tour ended back at Grote-Thompson Hall and the campers spent the rest of the night playing games and getting to know each other better.

 In the morning, after breakfast, all the campers walked together to the Button Drill Room for today's curriculum. Once there, they listened to a short introduction from Michelle Lucas, founder of Higher Orbits who has worked with mission control for NASA, and Jennifer Carter, camp director. They went over general expectations for the group and then introduce Don Thomas, a retired astronaut who would later be speaking to the group about life in space.  They all stressed the importance of staying engaged throughout the week and asking questions to get the fullest experience possible.

Michelle then led the campers in an icebreaker, where they could all continue to learn each other's names and also share an interesting fact about themselves ( which ranged from hobbies and sports they enjoyed to academic interests such as engineering and biology).  From there, the campers were told to form teams of 4 or 5 and form a group name. These will be the teams that they will compete with for the chance to send an experiment into space.

Once everybody was in a group, it was time to put their teamwork and problem-solving skills to the test for the first time.  They were provided with nothing but painters tape and paper and given the instructions to build a structure that was strong enough to support the tennis and durable enough to withstand an "earth quake" and a gust of " wind".  The team with the tallest tower that met all the criteria would win the first award of the camp.

After a short break, the entire group came back together to listen to Don Thomas speak.  He shared his personal experience of becoming an astronaut, and it was easy to see that a major theme was perseverance. Before he ever got close to a space ship, he was rejected from NASA's astronaut program 3 times. However, he never gave up his dream of going into space and after working hard to create the best application possible, he was accepted.  He flew on 4 missions, the most recent one being 20 years ago, and had many anecdotes to discuss what it was like to live on a shuttle.  He also discussed various kinds of experiments that had been sent to the International Space Station.

The campers then ate lunch before being introduced to Twyman Clements, the president, and CEO of  Space Tango. He gave the campers a better idea of what they can and can not use for their experiments as well as examples of other Go for Launch experience that have been or will be launched into space. This led to the campers being excited to brainstorm with the rest of their team and begin a basic game plan for their project.

The next task, was for each team to design a mission patch that would represent their group and experiment.  Don and Michelle gave a presentation on different examples of mission patches from various famous expeditions and Don's own shuttle flights. Then, the campers had the chance to create their own, these patches were very important because if they won, their patch would be made into a physical patch that they would get to keep.

Afterward, they moved to the auditorium to listen to Dr. Malphrus give a presentation on Morehead State University's space science program and the small satellites that university students work on. He talked about the Lunar Ice Cube project that will land on the moon's surface and do research on frozen water. 

Finally, to end the day's curriculum awards were given to two teams of students. Team Solstice won the award for building the tallest tower in the paper tower activity. Team Solstice is made up of campers Sydney Gordon, Rachel Toll, Callie Mullins, JuLeah Edie, Veronica Kruth.  There was also a campers choice award for best team name, which went the Galactic Game. The members of the Galactic Gang are Tesla Malphrus, Canyon Thomas, Alex Masterson.