Space Camp 30th Anniversary – Weekend Recap

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Space Camp celebrated its 30th Anniversary this weekend with a series of notable events.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The 30th anniversary events started off on Thursday as Space Camp held its “Retro Night.”

Upon check-in, guests were greeted to a bag of swag:

30th Anniversary Swag Bag

The bag itself is a Space Camp / AC / USSRC reusable grocery bag.  Inside it was a Space Camp space pen, keychain, magnet, 30th anniversary Space Camp pin and, for alumni only, a Space Camp / Aviation Challenge Alumni challenge coin!

30th Anniversary Alumni Challenge Coin

The highlight of “Retro Night” at Space Camp involved, naturally, a public showing of SpaceCamp the movie.

SpaceCamp at Space Camp

As nice as it was to see SpaceCamp with an audience, the real treat of the evening came with the panel held afterwards.  Patrick Bailey, the film’s producer, sat down with the Space Center’s CEO from 1985, Ed Buckbee, and Lee Sentell, a technical advisor to the film and Space Camp’s marketing guy circa 1985.

Because the film did not realize the box office success for which it was destined, I suspect this might have been the first time in a quarter century that anyone involved in the making of the film sat down to talk about it!  Such a rare event deserved to be preserved for posterity, and so it was!

Overall the night was quite festive, with a mix of 80’s retro and Space Camp retro.  Some went for the neon colors and big hair, while others went for old Space Camp garb.  Space Camp even managed to dig out enough of the old powder blue shorts and ringer tees to outfit the night’s support counselors.

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Stephanie and Al Talk Space Camp

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Stephanie Abrams returned to New York to resume her Weather Channel duties after an exciting weekend of getting inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame as part of the 30th anniversary of Space Camp.

This morning on Wake Up with Al, Stephanie and Al talked about this past weekend, and showed a few snippets from Friday evening!

Check it out!


 

Space Camp 30th Anniversary – SpaceCamp

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Space Camp kicked off their 30th anniversary this past Thursday evening with “Retro Night,” and a public viewing of SpaceCamp.

Harry Winer, the film’s director, was  unable to attend, but sent along a short video, played before the move, sending his best wishes and brief thoughts on the movie.

After the showing the film’s producer and author of early drafts of the script Patrick Bailey joined Lee Sentell and Ed Buckbee to give their thoughts on the making of Space Camp.

Lee was one of the technical advisors on the movie as well as the Director of Marketing for Space Camp from 1982-1992.  He also serves on the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, the governing body that oversees the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

Ed Buckbee was the CEO of the Alabama Space & Rocket Center as well as Space Camp from their inception through 1994.

It was an incredibly exciting event because I highly suspect that, because the film never found commercial success during its theatrical run in 1986, this was probably one of the few times anyone involved in making the film sat down to talk about it.  And that’s a shame, because it really is, if nothing else, a fun movie!

Fortunately, you didn’t have to be in attendance to hear the panel.  I present to you video of that event, recorded both for your enjoyment as well as for posterity.

80s À gogo Redux

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I just received yet another team picture from the 80s.  You keep sending them, I’ll keep posting them!  Especially during this, the 30th birthday of Space Camp!

Mark Lopa wrote to me with the following:

Hello Vincent,
I just found my group picture from Space Camp. I was a pilot on the Challenger Level II team in April 1985. I’m the middle person in the second row up from the bottom wearing the gold watch. (Why I was wearing it I have no idea.) I can’t believe how long ago that was. I still have my hat and t-shirt, although the shirt doesn’t quite fit these days. I was in the eighth grade at the time.
Thanks, Mark!
What’s especially interesting about this photo, from a collector of artifacts’ perspective, is that I have never before seen that sweatshirt design.  Very neat!

Mark Lopa's 1985 Level II Team Photo
If you’d like to see the full resolution picture, click here.

80s À gogo

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Thanks, I’m sure, to the 30th anniversary of Space Camp, I’ve noticed more photos resurfacing from the 80s.  This is a good thing, as the farther back we go, the harder it is to find what Space Camp looked and felt like during its first decade.

Just today I received an 1988 team photo from Patrick McLeod.  Have a look:

1988 Team Photo - Provided by Patrick McLeod

In case you’re looking for some tips on how to wear your hear for “Retro Night” tomorrow, I think this photo will help!

Also today, Danny Engesser posted a link on Space Camp’s Facebook page to his Flickr gallery of photos from his time at Space Camp, in June of 1988.  Check it out.  He even has a few more photos of Pathfinder without any SRBs.

Finally, Mike Flachbart posted to his twitter feed a picture of the very first group of kids to ever attend Space Camp:

Group Photo from Very First Space Camp, June 1982

Incredible!

When Space Camp Turned 18

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Shiny Space Camp Turkey Logo

Space Camp in Huntsville isn’t the only Space Camp celebrating an anniversary this week.

Just as Space Camp was reaching legal age, Space Camp Turkey was born!

Space Camp Turkey  is currently celebrating its twelfth anniversary!

Congratulations!

To celebrate the occasion, I have overhauled the turkey photos in the HabPhotos section.  Newer, better photos have replaced the old ones, once again courtesy of former Space Camp Turkey counselor and HabForum member, Matthew Danner.

Have a look!

 

Photos, Circa 1991

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Continuing with the old photo motif from the Slate gallery, today’s look-back goes back to 1991.

Former Space Camp counselor Matt Hetman was kind enough to provide a nice variety of Space Camp photos from the very beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century.

30th Anniversary Week

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This week marks the 30th anniversary of Space Camp. Three decades!

Obviously Space Camp has evolved and changed over the years.  Let’s take a look back!

First up, have a look at Space Camp in its earliest days.

Slate has a photo gallery of Space Camp in the early 80’s.  Photos include the very first Training Center Floor, simulators, rocket launch, and of course a photo of the day George H.W. Bush attended camp!

Enjoy!