An 'Out of This World' Experience for Travis
A brief account from Travis, a Hinchingbrooke Year 12 participant: "I attended the Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy at the US Space & Rocket Center, Alabama. This is a unique opportunity for children of employees of Honeywell and 125 teenagers flew in from around the world. This included me and one other person from the UK. During the week we got to carry out command tasks as a team, complete practice missions in simulators, attend a talk on Leadership by an ex-head astronaut at NASA, Robert ‘Hoot’ Gibson, and many more activities."
Day 1
Students arrived from all over the world at the US Space and Rocket Center, their home for the next five days, which holds the world’s largest collections of rockets and space memorabilia on display.
Once participants settled in their bunks and geared up – literally, with an official space camp uniform – they embarked on their first full day, which involved orientation, team-building activities, leadership training, and fun activities meant to connect one another.
Students visit the center's planetarium.
Day 2
The participants toured the US Space and Rocket Center, took part in robot and model rocket-building activities, learned from retired NASA astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson, and trained like astronauts on the Multi-Axis Trainer, which simulates a turbulent ride through space.
Sam DeLay uses the Multi-Axis Trainer.
Day 3
Students trained for shuttle takeoff and landing using technology designed to simulate the experience, then learned what it’s like to walk on the moon. The moon’s gravitational pull is 1/6th of the force felt on Earth, so to practice like a pro, students took used a simulator known as the 1/6th chair – modeled after Apollo-era training equipment.
Soham Rane, Ignacio Canay, Sofia Román Garrastazú and Arnavi Joshi in mission training.
Day 4
The students guided their teammates through a simulated space shuttle mission.
Day 5
The students launched model rockets that they built and celebrated their accomplishments as a group with a graduation and closing ceremony.
Since starting the program in 2010, Honeywell has sponsored nearly 3,000 students to attend the unique space camp experience.