The school sent a team of seven students and one teacher to NASA- U.S. Space and Rocket Centre, Huntsville

Kabir Oberoi of Std VII,  Saadat Badgijer of Std VI,  Jahan Pawar of Std VII, Gamanjit Sethi of Std VIII, Kaashvi Hiranandani of STd VI and Danesh Contractor of Std X and teacher Mrs Nini Ghaie experienced this inspirational trip to NASA.

REPORT I

My trip to the US Space and Rocket Centre was a great experience.  My stay in the space centre was for 6 days.  I gained space knowledge which I could never get in my life from anywhere else except for the home of space science NASA.

The Space Camp was held at Huntsville, Alabama, though NASA has several establishments spread out in the U.S.A.  I was taken aback by the massive and thoroughly well organized establishment.  During my stay in NASA, our guardian teacher shared his knowledge  about the Apollo rockets with us.  They also gave us a space mission for which we received training.

Our mission was to fly a Space Shuttle Simulator. This was one of the most exhilarating experience.  For this mission each person of the group was assigned a position which would help in the proper take-off, landing and solving the problems during the flight.  I had the privilege of being selected as a commander of the space orbiter and had the responsibility of controlling the space shuttle.  After tremendous amount of team work, co-ordination and research the mission was accomplished.  They taught us about the history of space missions and also about how do astronauts survive in space.  One of the modules of space training is exposing the trainee/ astronauts to the moon gravity chair where one accesses 1/6th of the Earth’s gravity which itself is a mind blowing experience not to mention that high level of fitness are required for this.

It was  an excellent and inspirational trip and I recommend a must to anyone who would be interested in space and aviation fields.

The 2009 NASA Camp to U.S. Space and Rocket Centre in Huntsville, Georgia began with the meet of all the parents, teachers, students and the chaperons at the Le Meridian Hotel. The students after that proceeded towards the International Airport where after completing all the formalities they boarded the place and left for U.S.A. After a very tiring 17 hours journey they atlast got time to rest in their hotel rooms. After getting a full day for relaxing the next day morning we left for sight – seeing. On the day’s sight – seeing list was the Georgia Aquarium, the world of Coca-Cola and shopping at Wal Mart.

We went to the World of Coca – Cola, where we again got three hours for viewing the whole area, and even got to taste the sixty-four flavours of Coca-Cola that the company sells all over the world. That day we  went to bed early as we had to leave early morning the next day to HuntsVille where our NASA camp was going to begin.

At Hunts Ville, we were divided into groups at given time met our Team Leaders. The first we just visited the whole compound of NASA and played games and enjoyed a lot with our leaders. The next day my group were taken to the NASA Museum with rides like Mars, Rover and etc., and then that day we studied the brief history of NASA and Russia’s Space Race, where both of them were discovering technologies and trying to reach first to the moon.

The next day our group was given an experiment of making toys that were to be then experimented in the space. We started the experiment of building our own rocket models which we would fly on day four of our camp. The same day we enjoyed a ride on the ‘Multi – Axis Choir’. This choir was actually used to test the astronauts on how long could they sustain in the shuttle just going round and round. The next day then we made the second and the final part of our rocket models. The same day we also prepared for a mission in which we had to do all the task that the NASA team and the astronauts do during a mission to International Space Station in which I was CATO, whose task was to keep the astronauts and the media informed about the ongoing of the Mission. That day we could ride the ‘1/4 Chair’ which was used to train astronauts on how to walk on the moon.

The next day we first performed the task of like noticing the gravity of objects on the moon and experimenting which cloth would be most suitable for a space suit. We were taken to huge forest area owned by NASA to fly our rocket models which was very successful for our whole group. The  same day we went to one of NASA training area out of our camp premises called ‘Area 51’ where we were given task of One of the member and we had to pass areas by building tracks. We had to balance the wood and make each member cross from one side to the other.

The next day we were shown a model of the International Space Station and we also studied how the astronauts survive We went to ride the ‘Space Shot’ in which we went up to a height of 150 feet in just two to three seconds, stayed up there for one to two seconds and then slowly came down, then we rode ‘G – Force Aecello Rator’ in which we were put into a chamber which rotated at a speed of sixty miles per hour and make create G-Force in the chamber. The same  day we saw the stars in the night with the help of a telescope. The last day of our NASA Camp we rode a Manoveouring Unit (MMU) designed to be used on the moon for the astronauts to move about. We also had a museum hunt followed by  a quiz. We had our Graduation Evening in which all of us received medals, and certificates. My group even won ‘The Best Group’ award.

At NASA we followed a very strict routine We used to get up at 7 ‘O’ Clock  and complete all our task till 9.The same night after the Graduation, we left for Atlanta as we had to catch a flight to Washington D. C. All of us without getting any rest for two days just started sight – seeing the moment we landed in Washington. First we went to a ‘Aero – Space Museum’ where we got to see all the types of U.S. aircrafts and space shuttles. Then we proceeded to a museum in which we saw the Wax Statues and many animals. After that we proceeded to the White House.

The next morning we went to one of the world’s best amusement park – The Six Flags, and there we enjoyed many rides as we were given six hours to enjoy the best rides of our life as much as we could. After that we went to the mall for our final shopping in the U.S. The next day morning we left early morning for New York, which was the last day of our sight – seeing. First we went to New York, we had a traditional Indian Food in an Indian restaurant. After that we went to the ‘Statue of Liberty’ by a cruise. We got some fun time on the Statue of Liberty Island. Then next we went to the ‘Empire State Building’ there we went to the top floor which was the ‘Observatory Deck’ to view the whole of the New York City. After that we went to view the ‘Time Square’ where we took pictures of the world’s most flashy streets filled all over with LCD screens. The next day we proceeded to the Airport from where we took a flight to Atlanta and from there later a flight to Mumbai. After a tiring flight of 17 – hours we landed in Mumbai and thus marked the end of a most memorable trip of our life.

-by Gamanjeet Sethi of Std VIII