I found out a couple of months ago about the Hudson Valley Challenger Center that does simulated space missions to educate the public about our space program and astronomy in general. Jove and his friend, who is also very interested in space, went on the mission Rendezvous with a Comet today.
It was an amazing experience. Jove and I worked together as scientists at the isolation station aboard the spacecraft. Jove got to use a robotic arm to move samples of a panel that had been hit by meteoroids and we counted the amount of impact holes. We sent our data to mission control where it was analyzed. There were also a few emergencies on board and we got to participate in some group activities. We also spent a portion of our time in Mission Control receiving and analyzing the type of data we had just sent. Jove was so excited the whole time and was really able to understand the job that we were doing. Jove and his friend wore their astronaut helmets and we all got flight jackets.
I was so impressed with the amount of accurate science that the kids were learning and the type of work we got to do on the craft. We may go back for one of their other missions in the future. Signing off!
2 comments:
Carmen:
Thanks for flying to a Comet with us on Sunday, and thanks for your review of our Challenger Center. We're glad you had a great time. We would love to be able to use your pictures and testimonial on our website or promotional flyers. And we would love to have you come back for a Moon or Mars space adventure. Thanks.
Commander John and the staff of the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center
wow... this looks awesome. maybe we could come on an adventure the next time we are out there.
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