We had a mission about the Enterprise space shuttle replica today. We successfully landed our mission. I was aboard the International Space Station and I even got to perform a space walk about the shuttle. I have this on video so the class will surely see!

We created rockets with engines, make balloons out of tissue paper, and had dinner with Konrad Dannenburg. Konrad is 93 years old and was a pioneer during the Space Race. He shared his great stories with us, of which I can't wait to share!

On Sunday we went through a series of astronaut simulations. This is one simulation that would allow the astronauts to experience what a bounce and roll landing may have felt like on the surface of the moon. This was a FUN ride! There was also a simulation that let us see what gravity would feel like at 1/6 the gravity of earth.

Sunday was a big day for us with a mission planned aboard the shuttle Atlantis. During this mission I was responsible for PROP in mission control. Basically anything that boomed I needed to monitor. The shuttle mission was a great learning experience. Unfortunately, we didn't land successfully.

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is our last day at Space Camp. I have met so many people from around the world and from the U.S. Every person here is motivated and excited to bring back from Space Camp what we have learned for the benefit of our students.

As I said before, we were placed into teams when we arrived at Space Camp. I am on team inspiration which includes people from 6 countries and numerous states including Minnesota, New Jersey, Arizona, and Ohio. The team that we are in has worked very hard to create a team "mission patch", perform two flight missions, and create numerous rockets and other projects for our classrooms.

Early on Friday we learned the role of each member during a NASA launch. We discussed the roles of the Mission Control, the people in the US that monitor the flights in Houston, Florida, and Alabama. We also learned the roles of the individuals aboard the International Space Station, and the crew aboard the shuttles. We then had an activity the incorporated geography in the classroom.

To finish the day on Friday we designed rockets that were made from a two liter pop bottle. The rockets were shot off using a bike tire pump and shot further than any of our expectations. I don't want to give too many details as I am for sure going to do some of these activities next year!

With the discussion on reaching Mars, we attended a workshop on Hydroponics. For every pound that we put into space the cost is $10,000. Do we want to send a shuttle that is full of soil for growing plants to Mars with a cost like that? Hydroponics is looking at how to grow plants, so that astronauts will be able to grow their own food on the months long trip to Mars.

Sadly, our water activities were cancelled due to storm warnings here in AL. With all of the experiences we have had, we were disappointed because we knew this experience would have been great!