CNET News.com reporter Daniel Terdiman gets spun around at high speed in a multi-axis trainer at Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--I'm spinning around at high speed, and I'm going in all directions.
You might think it's a state of mind, but it was actually my body doing the spinning, as I was strapped into a multi-axis trainer, a three-ringed device used to demonstrate to participants at Space Camp here one of the things would-be astronauts had to go through to be chosen to be launched into space.
Space Camp, if you're not familiar with it, is an Alabama state program that since 1982 has given more than half a million kids a week of training in what it takes to be an astronaut. I had come here as part of Road Trip 2008, my journey through the South, to see a little bit of what I had been hearing about since my teen years.
During their week here, kids aged 7 to 18 get a primer in a series of space-related activities, including piloting a space shuttle, running a shuttle mission, repairing a busted satellite, moon walking, and, yes, being spun around with huge force on the multi-axis trainer.
The program here is not just hands-on, however. It also mixes classroom training, all with the goal of teaching kids how to work together, how to make better decisions, and how to lead when under stress.
While the kids may ultimately be most drawn to come here by the prospect of playing astronaut for a week, and two graduates of the program are in NASA's actual astronaut program, those who run Space Camp don't consider their curriculum to be about creating the next generation of visitors to the skies.
"We're not in the business of training astronauts," said Al Whitaker, media relations manager for the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, which also hosts one of the best collections of authentic U.S. rockets in the world. "That's NASA's job. Our function is that we use that space-science curriculum as a vehicle to get kids interested in math and science."
Indeed, according to materials Space Camp puts out, 93 percent of participants took more science classes after visiting than they had before. And that's important as it is well-documented that American students are, on the whole, less and less interested in the sciences.
If you're older than 18, though, don't fret. Space Camp offers programs for adults, though it's mainly in the realm of corporate team-building workshops. Essentially, it's the same program that the kids go through, but ratcheted up a notch or two in difficulty.
At Space Camp, a group of teens works at a set up made to represent a space shuttle mission control while two of the group pilot the shuttle in a different part of the facility.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)"It takes them out of the boardroom and puts them in simulated life or death situations," Whitaker said. "And we hope that they'll perform better afterwards than they used to."
Whitaker told me that there is really only one curriculum for the kids, regardless of their age. But the counselors differentiate the program depending on how old campers are by fine-tuning the software running the exercises they're put through.
An example, Whitaker pointed out, was a space shuttle mission we walked into. This was putting a large group of the oldest kids through the paces of getting a computerized rendition of a shuttle back to Earth. Two of the teens were piloting it and three others were running mission control. The rest of their group was kibbitzing.
When we wandered in, the pilots had managed to upend their shuttle, and it was flying in upside down. The rest of the kids were laughing uproariously.
But the point, Whitaker later explained, is that because this was one of the older groups, they were allowed to maintain complete control over the flying of the shuttle, while the younger kids would have had less autonomy.
One of the things I tried at Space Camp was the one-sixth gravity trainer, which essentially allows you to experience what it's like to walk on the moon.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)Later, Whitaker took me into another one of the exercises, in this case a module of the International Space Station. There, a teacher was leading three young kids through some experiments, including one called "superball," which is designed to see how things react under zero gravity conditions, and another to see what happens to various chemical reactions in the same environment.
Back in the room with the multi-axis trainer, I also tried out another exercise, this time something called the one-sixth gravity trainer. This is a contraption that is designed to give you a sense of what it's like to walk on the moon, and I have to say, it's very cool. I strapped in and before I knew it, I was taking huge steps, leaping high into the air with each foot forward.
For many kids, Space Camp is such a good experience that they come back time and time again. Some even come every year. For some, it's their version of summer camp, except with better rockets.
In fact, it's that very idea that led to the creation of Space Camp, Whitaker said. He explained that Wernher von Braun, the leader of the U.S. space program, noted that while there were camps for kids for many other things, there was nothing that taught science. Thus was born one of the most successful state programs in U.S. history.
And why Huntsville? It turns out that von Braun and a coterie of other German scientists ended up here after World War II because of the Redstone Arsenal that is based here. They began working on rocketry and before long, NASA was founded here (see video below).
If Space Camp wasn't here, it's not at all clear that any of the thousands of kids who do some here would have. Whitaker said that the program draws kids and adults alike from all 50 states and many countries. He also said that after September 11, 2001--which happened to be his first day on the job--Space Camp had to figure out how to market itself to families driving in to Huntsville because for many months afterward, airlines weren't letting kids fly alone, something that was and is, once again, a mainstay for the program's attendance figures.
And while most of the kids who come here stay for the full week of training, there are also shorter programs. Packages--which are all-inclusive, except for transportation to Huntsville--run from $399 to $1,600, Whitaker said.
So if you or your kids have a hankering to experience some of the astronaut's life and aren't on the short list to go into space yourselves, you could do worse than showing up here for a day or for a week. Just make sure that you take everything out of your pockets before you get on the multi-axis trainer.
On Road Trip 2006, I traveled through the U.S. Pacific Northwest, stopping at destinations such as Grand Coulee Dam, Google's Columbia River server farm, and the McMinnville, Ore., home of Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose. During Road Trip 2008, I will journey through the Deep South.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)SAN FRANCISCO--Over the 8,260 miles I've driven on Road Trip 2006 and Road Trip 2007, I've visited, written about, and photographed some of the most interesting destinations in California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
I've also gotten to road-test some really cool gadgets and drive the spiffy and comfortable Infiniti QX56 over some long and very hot distances.
Now I'm getting ready to depart on Road Trip 2008. This year, rather than leaving from my home base in San Francisco, I'll be flying east and starting a grand tour of the Deep South in Orlando, Fla., on June 10.
Last year's trip through the U.S. Southwest was hot, but at least it was dry. This time around, as I meander through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, it's going to be both hot and humid. But at least it will be early summer--as opposed to the middle--and the review 2008 Outback 2.5 XT Subaru is providing will be properly air-conditioned.
Last year, I had the good fortune to indulge my inner geek and drop in on some sights and sites I'd long wanted to visit. Among them were the Grand Canyon Skywalk; the incomparable Hoover Dam; the gargantuan meteor crater near Winslow, Ariz.; an amazing collection of vintage commercial and military airplanes in Tucson, Ariz.; the only existing Titan Missile museum in the world; the Top Gun school; a community of off-the-grid sustainable living houses called Earthships; and majestic canyons in Arizona and Utah.
In Las Vegas, I got to walk under the Strip while slogging through a series of graffiti-filled tunnels. I also went on backstage tours of two Cirque du Soleil shows, Ka and Love.
One great thing about my road trips is that I often get behind-the-scenes tours not generally available to the public. An example was a tour last summer through parts of Hoover Dam that have been off-limits to the public since September 11.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)This time around, I'll be making the Cirque part of the experience once again when I go backstage at La Nouba, Cirque du Soleil's long-running Disney World show.
Being in Orlando, of course, no trip would be complete without a lengthy journey through Disney World, and I'll certainly be doing my part.
I'll also be on hand--if the stars align--for the landing of the Space Shuttle Discovery after its trip to the International Space Station.
I haven't finalized my itinerary yet--I will likely be turning to you, dear readers, for some suggestions--but other destinations I know I'll be hitting will be Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.; UPS' world distribution center and the Louisville Slugger bat factory, both in Louisville, Ky.; the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Ky.; Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn.; Johnson Space Center, in Houston; Fort Benning, in Columbus, Ga.; New Orleans, for a look at the city's post-Katrina recovery, or lack thereof; the Everglades; and more.
As in the previous two years, I will also be carrying around a passel of high-tech gadgetry to test on the road.
The Grand Canyon Skywalk, which juts out over the Colorado River, was a destination on Road Trip 2007.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)One goal of the trip is going to be seeing which cell network has the best 3G Internet service. As such, I'll be using Verizon's USB727 and Sprint's Compass 597 EVDO cards. I'll also have an Apple iPhone, which, of course, features AT&T's Edge network service. While I won't be able to do it every day, I intend to try tests of each network's service in several selected locations to see which one is best.
Apple has also lent me a MacBook Air to try. I'm already well-versed with Macs, as I use a MacBook Pro every day for work. But the Air will be my first test of a computer that relies almost entirely on the Internet--with the exception of input via USB--for its incoming information. Whether this will be a successful test is unclear, but I know I will be happy to be carrying a much lighter machine with me.
Another device I'm looking forward to trying is the Dash Express car navigation system. This is car GPS geekery at its best, a truly interactive system that allows users to send addresses and other data to the device from their computers, and to share data with other users.
At the end of long days of driving, writing, and processing photos, I'll need downtime, and Showtime and HBO have given me DVD sets of Weeds and Oz, respectively. I expect to spend many late-evening hours in front of the MacBook Air--with its external SuperDrive--watching them.
The Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Ariz., is the only restored Titan missile silo in the world. I visited the site during Road Trip 2007.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)Last year, I carried my personal Canon Rebel XT and used a couple of lenses Canon lent me. This time around, I'm going to use a loaner Nikon D60 digital SLR and several lenses, including the stock 18-55mm, as well as a 16-85mm and a 70-300mm.
That's for still images. For video, I'm going to be using two systems. The first is the Flip Ultra, the latest model from Flip Video. This gadget will allow me to shoot quick footage and upload it quickly to the Internet and this blog.
In addition, I'll be using Qik's new service. This is live, streaming video from a Nokia smartphone. Qik will allow me to broadcast streaming video from just about anywhere, and then make it possible for viewers to send instant messages while the video is playing. This will be very useful, as it will make it possible for some of the interviews I do during the trip to be interactive. You will be able to view my Qik channel both on the Road Trip package main page, and on my personal Qik page.
By using service from Qik, I'll be able to stream live video to the Internet and make it possible for viewers to interact with me.
(Credit: Qik)Using technology like Qik's is key this year, as one of my goals is to make the trip much more interactive than it's been the past two years. Exactly how that will manifest is still not entirely clear, but there are definitely a few things I know will make it more user-friendly than in the past.
First, I'll be Twittering constantly. You can follow my Twitter feed here.
Another thing I'll do at least a couple of times, if not more, is organize meet-ups along the way. I'll likely announce them on this blog and on Twitter.
I also have some gifts to give away--DVDs from Showtime, video games, one or two iTunes gift cards, and possibly some CNET swag. I'm still working out precisely how I will give this stuff away, but much of it will be based on reader interactivity. As I mentioned above, I'll be asking for some suggestions on things to visit during the trip, and I will likely reward those with the best advice.
Further, I'll be trying out reader-submitted photo galleries. After a week of the trip, I will likely post a blog entry going back over the places I've visited and ask for readers' photos of those places. Then I'll put up a gallery of the best of those images, giving the photographers credit, of course.
To top it off, I may simply ask readers for ideas for adding even more interactivity. I want to bring you along with me, if not in my car, then at least on the Internet.
I'll also be podcasting from the road, blogging constantly of course, and in general, trying to document the trip in as many ways as I can.
All told, I expect to cover nearly 5,000 miles in a large loop out of Orlando. The past two years, I drove almost 200 miles per day, and I don't expect that to be much different this time. I hope you'll come along for the ride.
One of my last stops on Road Trip 2007 was a visit to the Fallon Naval Air Station, in Fallon, Nev., home to the famous Top Gun school.
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