When I was in elementary school, I was selected along with several other visually impaired students to go to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. The common thing amongst us was that we liked space and we were involved with an organization called the Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority. They work with Blind, Visually Impaired, Deaf and Hard of Hearing students with week long programs throughout the year on various topics. I usually went to the Orientation and Mobility, think how to get around a crowded city as a visually impaired person, and Career related ones. It was through this organization that we were able to make this special week long trip. Don’t worry, we had chaperones. You’d never be able to get away with that sort of trip these days though. Early on a Friday morning, we departed from Halifax. Since APSEA is a government organization it was obviously mandatory that we must have our connecting flight route through Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. It is the only time I have ever been in that airport. You are not missing anything. From there we went to Atlanta, Georgia. The biggest airport I had ever seen at the time. It probably became even bigger since then. The people were certainly friendly.
“Welcome!” Some old stranger said. “You in the deep South…THE DEEP SOUTH!”
Thanks, bud, but that doesn’t help me find my suitcase.
Turns out we had to go on a train to get from our gate to the baggage area.
Turns out this train was high speed.
Turns out one of my friends isn’t good at following the safety announcements to hold on. “Why do we have to hold on?”
Turns out he flew from one side of the train to the other.
Turns out that was really funny.
Pay attention to safety briefings. They aren’t restricting your freedoms. They just don’t want you to die or hurt yourself.
After we got our bags, we left that huge place in a rented 15 passenger van. Stopping at McDonald’s for lunch we then headed for Huntsville by way of Tennessee because we were in the neighbourhood of the Blue Ridge Mountains and when else are you going to get to see those.
I should mention that I did bring a wind up camera for pictures. I forgot to take any the whole week. As it turns out, this was regrettable for Mom and Dad because they never got to see anything I did. They have to settle for stories, and this written account instead.
After seeing the mountains, we went directly to Alabama. Upon getting there we put our stuff into our bunk bed cabin rooms, but space, not a log cabin. I put my stuff in the wrong room and had to change rooms the next day. I’m not usually this stupid.
We were allowed to call home. This was in the age of collect calls where the call receiver paid for your long distance charges. Later on in life, I now understand why people don’t like this method of calling.
For meals we would eat in this large cafeteria. I had corn bread for the first time. I’m not sure what the big deal is. Another trend was to mix up all kinds of different pops and drink that. I had the biggest burp of my life. People weren’t impressed, and I don’t blame them.
During the week we learned all about astronauts and the things they have to prepare for in space. Tehre were simulators to simulate G forces during launch and zero gravity. There was even a Mars simulator. We watched several movies and toured a museum type place with moon rocks and other Space related things. We also had activities were we built the International Space Station out of KNEX. Haven’t thought of those in a while. We had activities where I pretended to be a Physicist on Mars. We also had a simulated shuttle launch play where I acted as Mission Scientist in Mission control. The other half were in a simulated space craft. We even got to press buttons.
On the last night of the week we “got our Space Camp Wings” and graduated from our week long program. The most memorable part of that night for me was during the Star Spangled Banner. As a Canadian citizen in a foreign land, I’ll stand for any anthem. That’s not a problem. Suddenly, this American kid, who I was not friends with, but who was seated next to me starts screaming at me. I can’t figure out why through his blubbering at first, but then it becomes clear to me.
“HE’S NOT PUTTING HIS HAND ON HIS HEART!!!” Over and over again. After what seemed like an eternity an American adult came over and explained to him that Canadians don’t have to do that. He seemed furious that I did not get into trouble. He clearly felt wronged and wanted justice. Fortunately, that part didn’t last forever. If he ever reads this, I meant no harm. We aren’t trained to do that where I live.
The next day we flew home, and things returned to normal.
Here is someone else’s picture of the Pathfinder Shuttle where we had a group photo taken. I also don’t have this with me at the moment. In my version of the picture it was all grass. I’m not sure what happened there.
