Welcome to the newest Space Camp Alumni Association Board member!
After an application process that began in September 2022 for one open seat on the board and a series of interviews throughout the end of the year with interested alumni, Christopher Mick was selected to fill the open seat on the Space Camp Alumni Association Board. His term began on January 1, 2023 for a period of 3 years to serve on the board promoting Space Camp Alumni outreach and furthering the mission of Space Camp Alumni.
Christopher Mick is the Education and Outreach Director for the STEAM educational nonprofit, Space St. Croix, that he founded in 2016. Space St. Croix’s mission, connecting kids to the cosmos, through Space-themed STEAM programming and teacher support materials for all Hudson, WI. area public and private schools, in addition to being the STEAM Programmer for the Hudson Area Public Library.
Read more about Chris Mick’s background on his biography page:
Space Camp Alumni Chapters kicked off 2023 with their first meetups of the year!
The Washington, D.C. Chapter of Space Camp Alumni provided outreach at the annual MAGFest video game conference that took place at Gaylord National Harbor in National Harbor, Maryland. They hosted a table that provided attendees the opportunity to pick up swag and chat with other alumni!
Two other Space Camp Alumni Chapters have meetings planned for January 2023:
PHOENIX – Next Meetup is on Saturday January 21, 2023 at 1pm Local Time at Lucille’s Smokehouse BBQ
SEATTLE – Next Meetup is on Saturday January 28, 2023 at 3pm Local Time at Machine House Brewery
Washington, D.C. Chapter is meeting monthly via Zoom or in person, their next in person meetup will be a museum gathering in the region! Contact the Washington, D.C. Chapter Leaders for more information.
Huntsville Chapter is meeting monthly via Zoom or in person to help coordinate efforts for AlumniFest 2023.
Chicago, New York City, and Houston will all have meetups during 2023 as well. If you are interested in being a part of these meetups with Space Camp Alumni, reach out for more information and to be added to the list!
Space Camp Alumni Chapters are volunteer led groups that facilitate meetups in their our geographic region. Interested in being a part of your region’s chapter or want to start a chapter in your region? Email [email protected] for more information!
The Washington, D.C. regional Chapter of Space Camp Alumni has begun meetups! Their first meetup took place in person at a restaurant in Tysons Galleria to establish the chapter. At their first meeting the regional chapter established that they would meet monthly, with business meetings taking place virtually on Zoom and in person meetings happening quarterly.
They also plan to represent Space Camp Alumni at the upcoming MAGFest convention for video gaming, with a hosted table of Space Camp Alumni swag that attendees can stop by to check out.
For information on joining the Washington, D.C. regional chapter, or starting a chapter in your own region – email [email protected].
Announcing the opening of our 2023 search for an additional Space Camp Alumni Association Board member.
If you are interested, please send 1) a letter of interest, and 2) a CV/résumé to us at: [email protected]. Please explain why you are interested, your eligibility, and how your background, experience, and skills will enable you to work with other board members and volunteers to advance the goals of the SCAA and Space Camp.
Applications will be accepted from August 1, 2022 through August 24, 2022. Finalists will be notified by email and will be asked to partake in an interview process. At the conclusion of a telephone or Zoom interview process, Board candidates will be approved by December 15, 2022.
The three year term will start on January 1, 2023. Ad Astra!
Find out more details in the downloadable document below:
On June 13, 1982, Space Camp officially turned 40 years old! 40 years of memories and team building, 40 years of alumni!
This occasion was marked with a celebration at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on Friday June 17, 2022 recognizing the alumni that had passed through the doors and inducting the next class of Space Camp Hall of Fame members.
These new inductees represent a variety of industry and are all leaders in their chosen fields. Learn more about the inductees in their Space Camp Hall of Fame videos, airing on the U.S. Space & Rocket Center YouTube Channel.
Watch more about the 40th Anniversary of Space Camp:
Each of the 2020 inductees, Mandy Vaughn, Brian Dudas, Peter Marquez, and Derek Hodgins were recognized after a long wait following their initial notification of being awarded the honor, due to two years of delay as a result of COVID conditions. The Space Camp Hall of Fame also inducted a special class for 2022 to mark the anniversary, the crew of Inspiration4. Jared Isaacman, an Aviation Challenge alumnus, Chris Sembroski, a former Space Camp Florida counselor, and friends of Space Camp, Hayley Arceneaux and Dr. Sian Proctor were inducted as a team.
It was a joyous occasion to celebrate 40 years of a truly unique program to inspire the next generation of STEM explorers.
Lots of exciting news ahead this year at Space Camp!
The new Boeing Space Camp Operations Center has officially gone vertical, and steel beams have begun to be placed to form the core structure of the new building. The skyline of Space Camp will look very different coming summer 2022 and the building is slated to be completed in Spring 2023.
Trainees are gearing up to come to camp once again in 2022, and some of the summer week-long programs are already sold out. Most levels of Space Camp and U.S. Cyber Camp are completely full, with Aviation Challenge also rapidly filling up. This summer will be a milestone for the program, in the first attempt to work back towards pre-COVID levels for camp teams and programs.
Follow along with progress of the all new building, the refurbishment of the Pathfinder Shuttle, and more as Space Camp works back from the past two years of amended camp programs.
This year also will mark the 40th anniversary of Space Camp in 2022, trainees and alumni will get a chance to celebrate in June 2022 throughout the whole anniversary week. More information to come on this next big milestone of Space Camp!
Elite programs at Space Camp are for alumni that recently graduated from an Advanced Space Academy or Aviation Challenge Mach III program, by invitation only and participants must meet specific age requirements. These programs are an extended duration mission program, with enhanced missions and activities within the program that runs a full week long. Participants in 2022 must have completed an Advanced Space Academy program to attend Advanced Space Academy Elite and be between the ages of 17-18 years old.
Participants look forward to qualifying for the program and this is a must anticipated registration day every year. With a small number of openings, competition is intense to reserve Elite camp openings quickly!
Aviation Challenge Mach III also has its own Elite program for alumni of Mach III. In 2022, this program is running one week in summer 2022 and is exclusively for invited graduates of Mach III that meet the age requirements.
Invited participants called in on December 1st, 2021 to hold their spot in the program, and openings sold out within hours of the camp registration being open for summer Advanced Space Academy Elite programs. We congratulate all of our 2022 Elite participants and look forward to welcoming you back in 2022!
2021 Advanced Space Academy Elite graduates post together for a group picture.
In summer 2022, the next class of Elite graduates will be welcomed as return graduates of Space Camp programs. To learn more about Elite programs, visit the links on the SpaceCamp.com website to “Advanced Space Academy Elite” or “Mach III Elite”.
August 2021 brought exciting news for Aviation Challenge enthusiasts! The helo dunker is an underwater egress training component that is much loved in the Aviation Challenge community.
In 2020, the current helo dunker system at the Aviation Challenge lake had to unfortunately be retired, as the owner of the system asked for it to be taken down. With the financial struggles brought on by COVID-19 and no leads on a potential helo dunker replacement, Aviation Challenge programs ran without a helo dunker during the 2021 season.
Tim Sheehy, owner of Bridger Aerospace, Aviation Challenge alumnus and U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation board member, knew exactly how important this component was as a part of the Aviation Challenge curriculum and connected our facility with a potential donor that had a helo dunker that met our needed specifications.
This introduction to Albert Bohomeier from Nova Scotia, Canada would prove to have a much needed positive impact on Aviation Challenge program for future summers. Albert was the owner of a retired 9D5 Helo Dunker unit, that was decommissioned and kept as a part of a private collection. At a time when he was looking to reduce the size of his collection, he heard about the need for a helo dunker at Aviation Challenge. Through this wonderful connection that Tim Sheehy and Albert Bohomeier made, Albert set plans into motion to have his retired helo dunker donated to Space Camp, to be used at the Aviation Challenge facility.
Since the dunker was located in Canada, this was not an easy feat. There were customs, and flatbed trucks, and shipping considerations that all needed to be set into place to bring the helo dunker to Huntsville, Alabama.
Enter another Aviation Challenge alumnus and Huntsville native that wanted to ensure that the dunker would make its way back to Aviation Challenge, J Spencer of Huntsville, Alabama. The helo dunker was one of J’s favorite memories from camp, and we wanted to help ensure that future trainees could enjoy this activity as well. J gave a generous donation to help transport the helo dunker from Canada to Huntsville, and begin the process of getting the dunker installed.
The dunker has now arrived at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and is ready to be evaluated to see what needs to be done to get the piece operational. If you would like to contribute to the Aviation Challenge Helo Dunker project, visit our GIVE page – and use the hashtag #ACHeloDunker in the comments of your donation to support this awesome project!
The future of human space exploration is brighter than ever- look at all the amazing crewed spaceflights in the past year, including those from NASA, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin! For many of us, our inspiration truly “blasted off” during our time at Space Camp. Let’s come together and reflect on our past as we celebrate the future.
Space exploration is an international endeavor and truly has no bounds. Last year’s Space Camp alumni patch design winner was Ana Paty Islas from Mexico City, Mexico.
This year’s theme is AlumniFest: Resume the Countdown and from reviewing all the amazing designs we received last year, we want to see your artistic talent again!
General Rules:
1. Attending the AlumniFest event (virtually or in person)
2. Incorporate “AlumniFest: Resume the Countdown” (or the spirit of the theme) and the year “2021” somewhere in the patch.
3. The design must be an original with no copyrighted material.
This patch design contest will run from August 2 through August 12 and the winning design will again, be made into a physical patch! Below is last year’s alumni patch design, showing the original design and the patch it was made into!
Submit your design to [email protected] by August 12th at midnight Central time to be considered. The winner will be announced August 16.
Good luck and we look forward to receiving all your designs!
This year’s Space Camp AlumniFest 2021 will be a hybrid event with opportunities for alumni to participate in person at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and with virtual components as well. The Space Camp Alumni Association Board is working on Space CampAlumniFest 2021 that will be held on October 8th and 9th, 2021.
There will be on campus activities on Friday evening and additional in-person opportunities throughout the day on Saturday. Saturday night, alumni will head to Yellowhammer Brewery for an evening of fun and Space Bowl Trivia – where the winners of this year’s Space Bowl Trivia games will go head to head streaming live from the venue, along with a special in-person trivia event for the crowd. Virtual content will be running throughout the weekend.
Space Camp alumni will also be able to engage from home, by submitting videos prior to the event and participating in different alumni polls and contests, like our returning Patch Design Contest. Become a member of the Space Camp Alumni Facebook group to get the latest information on video requests, schedules, and contests. We hope to see you in Huntsville in October 2021!
