Space Camp was founded in 1982 by USSRC Executive Director Edward O. Buckbee as an educational camp to promote mathematics and science to children using the U.S. space program as a basis. The idea for the camp was proposed by Wernher von Braun in 1977 while touring the USSRC, where he noticed a group of students taking notes on what they were learning.[3][4]
U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center and the camp in Huntsville are operated by the Alabama Space Science Exhibit Commission, a state agency whose members are appointed by the Governor of Alabama. The U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation is a separate non-profit entity and its board members are not appointed by the governor. It is responsible for scholarship, fundraising, and the licensing of camps outside the United States.
Programs
The center offers several programs. Space Camp was the first of the camp programs offered, and is used also as the umbrella organization name.[citation needed]
Space Camp is a "six-day" (really four-and-a-half days -- Sunday afternoon through Friday 9am) program offered for children between 9 and 11 years old. Children study space, aviation, and robotics.
Space Academy is intended for ages 12–14 and is also offered in six-day sessions.
Advanced Space Academy is designed for 15 to 18-year-olds. The program was originally known as Space Academy Level II and was started in the Fall of 1987.[citation needed] In 1987, the Space Academy Level II program was college accredited (1 hour) through the University of Alabama Huntsville.
The Family Camp[5] program allows parents or guardians to attend Space Camp with their child. The program is run throughout the year, and lasts three to four days. Family Camp also has an Aviation Challenge option during summer months.
Advanced Space Academy Elite is offered to graduates of the Advanced Space Academy program.
Additionally, Space Camp has previously offered a twelve-day Advanced Space Academy program that included features such as multiple missions, scuba diving, use of some of the Aviation Challenge facilities, and a twenty-four-hour extended duration mission.
Other programs
Other programs include corporate programs, programs for adults and educators, educational field-trips for school groups, and the X-Camp outdoor leadership camp. There were also special alumni sessions during the summer of the 25th anniversary.[citation needed]
Occasionally themed camps have been offered, usually in conjunction with museum exhibits. During the summer of 2010, a Jedi Experience camp was offered in connection with the traveling museum exhibit Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.[6]
Aviation Challenge logo
Aviation Challenge
The Aviation Challenge (AC) is a set of aviation-oriented programs at the camp, consisting of three programs for children from ages 9–18. The camps utilize computer-based flight simulators, which train attendees to fly, act, and think like fighter pilots.
Facilities
Simulators
There are several simulators at Space Camp, such as:
Space Camp additionally uses rides or attractions that are on site at the USSRC as instructional tools. The Space Shot simulates liftoff, and the G-Force Accelerator simulates the G-forces put on astronauts while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere or during launch.
The Intuitive Planetarium provides a venue for presenting space and science-oriented shows produced through a Digistar 7 system and 5 Christie laser projectors.[7] The planetarium is part of the center's museum complex.[8] In February 2019, the Intuitive Planetarium replaced the Spacedome IMAX theater, which had operated at the Center since 1982.[7]
Accommodation
Space Camp Habitat 1 facility
If a Space Camp program extends beyond a single day, participants are accommodated at either Habitat 1 or Habitat 2. These habitats are facilities that house both the trainers and trainees. These are mainly used by the Space Academy campers.
Aviation Challenge trainees stay in Habitat 3 where they are required to maintain military standards to their bays and racks.
Both habitats are segregated between male and female campers, usually being the males on the first floor and the females being on the second.
Other camps
There are a number of internationally licensed Space Camps, including Space Camp Turkey, Space Camp Canada (French: Camp Spatial), and Space Camp Belgium. There have been other space camps in the United States in the past, but they have been closed.
Space Camp Florida
Space Camp Florida was established in 1988 and shared facilities with the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Florida, both of which were operated by the now-defunct U.S. Space Camp Foundation. The Space Camp facility in Florida closed in 2002 due to low attendance, which led to financial difficulties. About 50,000 students attended the camp during its run, but in its final year, as few as 14 participants filled 276 slots.[9] The Astronaut Hall of Fame was sold to the Delaware North corporation and remained open until 2015 as an added attraction to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with several simulators previously used by the camp available to all visitors.[10] As of 2020[update], the building was being used by Lockheed Martin to support work on the NASA Orion crew capsule.[11]
Space Camp California
Space Camp California was operated by the now-defunct U.S. Space Camp Foundation at Mountain View, California from 1996 to 2002, when it closed due to financial difficulties.[12]
Space Camp Hall of Fame
The Space Camp Hall of Fame was inaugurated in 2007 during the 25th-anniversary celebrations. The Hall was established to honor alumni and former employees by recognizing their contributions and personal time spent at the Space Camp.[13]
