posted 10-01-2005 05:22 PM               

Think about this and tell me if it would be somthing you might like to do:

- Project Apollo space fantasy camp

- A one week vacation to the Cape where for one week, you would be in a group class to learn how to fly to the moon (crach course of course)
- On day one, you are assigned in a three man crew (picked in lotto)
- The works- you are each assigned a role, a seat and the three of you even get a crew photo (which will be autographed for a good memory )
- For the next 4 days, you learn and then train. At a desk with pencil and pad in hand. Then in a sim.
- There will be special guest teachers on each day such as Apollo astronauts and controllers you can ask questions.
- On day five you run your mission to the moon with all minutes logged for study.
- On day six/seven, back to class to review each astronaut and missions performance.

Kind of a neat idea huh?

[This message has been edited by 4allmankind (edited October 01, 2005).]

posted 10-12-2005 01:40 PM            

Firstly, setup costs would be large. You'd need to build the spacecraft simulator(s), mission control requirements, etc., have somewhere to permanently base them, and then staff it.

Next is coming up with a well-balanced and stimulating programme of activities. Not being negative, but spending most of the first part of a week long camp sat in classrooms training will not be a good selling point. Yes, you may get some who'll be OK with that, but in general you have to cater to a wide spectrum of potential attendees from those who have the Apollo technical manuals memorised to those who watched the first moon landing and the Apollo 13 movie and just think it would be fun to do something like this.

As for attendees, based on what I've seen myself from attending the current major adult space related camps such as that in Huntsville and the Kansas Cosmosphere, you'll find it difficult to get large numbers anyway for a multi-day visit for this. If they get 100 to 200 attendees a year they are happy. If you do not have the additional benefit of running the same camp for children all year long as they do, the cost would be prohibitive.

Now I have another suggestion. If people are really interested in some level of multi-day adult space experience with more focus on Apollo (but could include Shuttle and other things as well), I do have contacts with the education group at the Kansas Cosmosphere, and am meeting up with them in a couple of weeks. They already have facilities and equipment and even an Apollo Command Module simulator (along with a Shuttle and Soyuz). I'm not sure how fully featured it is but it is by far the best I have seen.

They are open to running custom sessions (which this would be), but need minimum attendee levels (20) per session.

Here's a few questions I'd need answers to before I took the idea up with them:

1) Apollo only or Apollo/Shuttle/Soyuz/etc?
2) Expected camp length in days? (would help to also get a minimum and maximum numbers of days - note most full adult space camps are a minimum of 2 days and a maximum of 5 days)
3) What percentage balance of theoretical vs practical vs other? (other being for example museum tour, IMAX show, flight sims, etc) would be acceptable e.g. 30% theory, 50% practical, 20% other.
4) Target audience knowledge level e.g. no prior space knowledge through to real Apollo astronaut?
5) Expected cost for the programme excluding accomodation and travel? (e.g. 5 day adult space camp in Huntsville is approximately US$900.00 and Kansas Cosmosphere 2 day is approximately US$250)