posted 08-06-2014 04:36 PM               

The Space Camp Hall of Fame was established to honor the outstanding members of the Space Camp family, including graduates and former employees who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers and friends of the Center who have made considerable contributions of personal time, effort or resources to further the goals of the Space Camp programs.

This year's inductees are:

• Kaya Tuncer
  Kaya was inspired to build a Space Camp in his native country of Turkey after learning about the opportunity in 1996 at a meeting about technology transfer with Turkish-American NASA engineer Ismail Akbay. At its opening in June 2000, Kaya dedicated Space Camp Turkey as a "Gift to the Youth of the World." Since then, more than 150,000 youth and adults from 50 countries have attended the camp.

• Samantha Cristoforetti
  Samantha is a 1995 alumna of Space Camp in Huntsville, Captain in the Italian Air Force and currently an astronaut with the European Space Agency. In July 2012 she was assigned to an Italian Space Agency ASI mission aboard the International Space Station — Expedition 42/43, to be launched on a Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in December 2014.

• Michelle Ham
  Michelle Ham is a 1991 and 1994 alumna of Space Camp in Huntsville, and former NASA Johnson Space Center employee. Michelle spent 10 years working at NASA for a contractor primarily in International Space Station (ISS) Flight Control as an Operations Planner and also as an Astronaut Instructor in the Daily Operations Group. During this time, Michelle trained nearly every astronaut in the corps for their expeditionary flight to ISS or their space shuttle flight to ISS.

posted 08-10-2014 08:58 PM               

Hab1.com is starting to put up videos of the activities, which you can watch here.

I may have more to post soon, but here are a few photos of the inductees together:

Top row, left to right: Ed Van Cise (2012), Josh Whitfield (2008), Burke Hare (2011), Jim Allan (2009), Dan Oates (2007) and Hoot Gibson (2012). Middle row: Mary Tuncer for her late husband (2014), Liz Warren (2012), Michelle Ham (2014), Marlenn Maicki (2008), Penny Pettigrew (2007), Amanda Stubblefield (2007) and yours truly (2009). Bottom row: Vincent Vazzo (2008), Georg von Tiesenhausen (2007) and Danny Jacques (2010).

Here's an alternate shot of some of the group. You can read about why they were inducted here.

Samantha Cristoforetti couldn't attend her induction this year as she's presently in Russia preparing to launch to the International Space Station in November. So here's a shot from a few weeks ago when several of us from Texas gathered at the Johnson Space Center to celebrate her honor.

From left to right: Liz Warren (2012), Andrea Hanson (2010), Amanda Stubblefield (2007), Samantha, Jim Allan and myself (2009) and Valerie Meyers (2011).

posted 08-11-2014 07:56 PM               

Space Camp Hall of Fame Honors Astronaut, Trainer and Entrepreneur

A European astronaut, a former NASA trainer and an entrepreneur who encouraged a new generation of international space travelers have been hailed for their success by the institution that helped to inspire each of them: Space Camp.