I just received an email the other day from one of the members of the International Space Camp 2007 Norwegian delegation, Kim. Prior to his visit to Space Camp, he found his way to the HabForum and was able to have many of his questions answered.
His letter brought a smile to my face and I wanted to post it here as I think it will bring a smile to yours as well.
Hi!
I just wanted to say that your site helped me a lot in preparing for International Space Camp, especially about what to expect what to bring and stuff. I didn’t know you were at the opening ceremony, and it was a pleasant surprise to see some of the presentations when I came home.
I was part of the delegation from Norway, you may remember me being dressed in a national costume mostly black in color. Our presentation was not as good as I hoped for, mainly because we never rehearsed or had much time to discuss it beforehand. We were planning to create it on the plane across the atlantic, but then our teacher had to take a separate flight. Nevertheless I hope Torgeir as King Olav of Norway taught you a bit about old Norwegian culture and history as it was a major event in my country’s history.
The opening ceremony was great! It was so fun and interesting seeing all the US teachers and then the international delegations. I really liked the running gag with “best beaches in the world” which I think even our viking mentioned.
The rest of the week was even better! I was part of Team Oberth, and was designated as a PLT, just what I hoped for! Our counselors were also great. My daytime counselor was Ellie Hattery, and nighttime was Percy Goode. I can’t imagine a better pair of leaders for our team. They got along very well with everyone and I never experienced any of them in a bad mood or being bossy, they were more like members of the team rather than just people telling us what to do, and when to do it.
I also got to be CDR for the second part of our EDM. We had a thinking anomaly with a fuel cell that we regrettably never got fixed, but we managed every other anomaly. I was also very satisfied with the landing, I hit right on the centerline, even though I came in a bit low and touched down a little early.
Another thing I really enjoyed was High Ropes, and Area 51. Those truly bonded the team closer together and I think it made us work better together later on. And of course the slidewire after cimbing the wall was awesome.
Oberth also won the space bowl, and the team mostly meant that was my achievement. Our last question was something like this “These three astronauts on this Apollo-mission did not know what hit their rocket during launch”. That’s easy, I thought! So we scribbled down the answer and at graduation we were announced as winners.
I also won the Right Stuff-award. That was a surprising moment, but one I really appreciated nonetheless.
Next year I think I’ll go back to space camp, but then I’ll of course have to pay for it myself. Nevertheless I think it’s worth it, and I look forward to seeing the Saturn V and Pathfinder once again.
Sorry for going on abouit this, have a great day!
Best wishes,
Kim Spildrejorde
He later wanted to add:
Of course I can’t forget Mouse, who had to put up with all of us on our first day at the camp, before the opening ceremony. He was great, and I had a really great time that day, learning my way around and checking out the museum. Putting me in the museum was like putting a kid in a candy store!
I still have many impressions to digest from the camp, and I feel extremely fortunate to have been given this opportunity to see so many people from different countries, each with their own culture, and then learning to work closely together with them as a team. I think at the end we didn’t even think about the fact that we were all from different places in the world. We just went along very well.
Indeed this is part of the magic that is Space Camp / Aviation Challenge. I think Kim captured it wonderfully.