Any `Graduation’ becomes an emotionally charged event, especially when there are parents and children involved. Irrespective of the age of the child and the circumstances of the event, the accomplishment and validation of an activity by any authoritative body is fraught with significance and sentiment. So much so that even onlookers,  even though neither kith or kin of the people involved, find themselves applauding and cheering without being necessarily briefed about the antecedents of the event or its participants.

Imagine us then, 46 people, having travelled thousands of what started off as Kilometers but then quite unconsciously became Miles, waiting to see these children graduate on foreign soil, hoping they would be acknowledged, recognized, appreciated and even commended for all the little things that they did for this one big moment.

And they were. Our Kids did us proud. They ranked amongst those teams that walked away with the

_Mission Patch Award

_Space Bowl Award

_Outstanding Team Award

_Area 51 Award and the

_Space Bowl Award (Advanced)

Not just that `Heyma and her team from Bangalore, India’  were also acknowledged and we along with these wonderful children , were part of the Graduation Day  graduates.

The ceremony itself was without fuss but did not want for dignity or a sense of something special. Samantha Peterson, one of the Managers of the Camp did the honours of introducing the many activities, the teams and the Winners along with the Counselors, who in turn introduced their team members individually, She also introduced the Chief Guest of the day, Col Bob Springer, a  `Top Gun’ Vietnam war veteran , and a NASA Astronaut, who with a few choice words made the audience realize it’s not the fanfare that precedes his name that makes a person important but what he’s done and how he is remembered that counts.

Our kids got to wear their Indian costumes after all. The bond they shared with their Counselors one could see, was spontaneous and completely genuine. It was also clearly reciprocated. Dhiren told me that some of the Counselors were close to tears and their own words when they introduced their teams were testimony to this fact.

The teams were awarded simply but tellingly with Diplomas, Certificates, Medals, Badges and in some cases T Shirts. The applause each time was however the same, pretty heartfelt.

It has been all in all a very exciting and fulfilling journey. I spoke to Ms Kami Davis at the Camp about the possbility of some more children from our school coming again in October and she  more than welcomed the idea. You will all hear all about it from the movers and shakers, all 37 of them, yourselves.

And from that will be born the next group of NASA Camp enthusiasts.

While I celebrate the whole idea, I look forward to the day when ISRO will host its own Camps and we will all stand up along with students from all over the world when the Indian National Anthem is played.

It will happen. It may even start with one of these 37.

Till we meet again after many flights short and long,

Signing off from Huntsville, Alabama, on our last day here,

hemaa narayan

 

 

 

 

Two of my mosquitoes squabbled with each other in the late evening. The counselor seemed to take it in his stride but what bothered me was the kids did too! However apologies and a few tears later they seemed the best of friends again.

Dinners at 5.00, different Counselors for the day and the night, Sick Bay visits, the days here at the camp have seamlessly blended one into the other until the day when it all culminates in applause, good cheer, and till we meet or email again happens tomorrow. For us it all starts again, counting suitcases, heads,  and  I D cards. We Teachers have planned to attend the ceremony in complete Indian Regalia and give the Space Camp folks something `spacey’ given the Sarees’ yardage and coverage!! to  talk  about.

Till then, the photos as promised.

 

Signing off for now,

hemaa narayan

 

 

 

It was a day of Missions for our kids and a day of recordings for us.  The students are given a problem and asked to solve in the given time.  Targets were achieved.

We could see a 3D movie “Mission to Mars” along with our kids in the Digital Theatre.  We could also experience “Magnificent Desolation” at the High Dome IMAX theatre.  Both were memorable to say the least.

We just could not stay away from AREA 51.  This time it was our older kids taking part in Tubular Trouble and other activities.  The co-ordination among the teammates and efficiency in planning was so good that they excelled in almost all the activities and broke the previous records in a few.  It was a proud moment for us to hear the counsellors pronounce “This is a golden Team” since this team had four of our kids in it

Tomorrow being the last day, we expect it to be full of excitement and we are suddenly aware that the “Graduation Day” for our kids is just one day away.

The Chaperones

The giant airplane straddling the booster situated in an area called the `pathfinder’, has a large, gaping hole at its mouth. A testimony to the fact that size does not matter in the face of that great equalize age. The whole section has been cordoned off and there are trucks and other such utilitarian automobiles that roar or chug in and out carting away or bringing in bits and pieces of material to restore the ailing machine to its former, strong squatting, avatar. It’s going to take a while and predictably there are more pictures being taken of the once airworthy machine in its present flawed state, than when whole and therefore somehow, ordinary. Destruction in any form has its own attraction and man is always somehow moved more by the vulnerability of his creations than their longevity.

Today has been a long day for the kids and the bulk of the activities at Space Camp are confined, we notice to today and tomorrow. Quite a few of the Area 51 items, outdoor leadership and team building activities, for the older group were conducted today. Very similar to the activities described yesterday but with enhanced degrees of difficulty. Again communication and the ability to understand the varying capability factors within a group and appreciating these differences played a key role in the success of these missions. Our boys and girls have been doing very well and one of the teams even broke a couple of records in their assignments.

`Mission to Mars’ and `Magnificent Desolation ‘’ were two films that the kids and we saw in the very impressive digital and Imax theatres here at the Space center. Again and again one is made to realize that even extraordinary events can be cast in an `uber’ spectacular mold by the way they are presented. The huge Imax dome screen and the precision of the 3D digital images make the Mars and the Moon events seem almost impossibly super human and otherworldly. Man and America’s achievements seem crafted out of abilities honed by means other than just finely honed intelligence coupled with large doses of science and engineering. Rockets have always enthralled people. The Marshall and Davidson Centers here have made sure with their utterly captivating displays, both physical and on celluloid, of these monumental feats of engineering, that this basic obsession of man’s with rockets will always be nursed and nurtured .

I haven’t been able to upload photos today to due to technical difficulties, cameras being recharged etc, but will get to it posthaste.

It’s been a long day my friends and I seem to have been bitten by the scratchy bug myself and hence I’ll take leave with promises to keep.

I saw Pavan racing off to his Mission with his cough not very far behind but not a very strong presence either,  He said  not to worry , he couldn’t be better. Immediately after his reassurance, two of my mosquitoes told me they liked me. Well I sort of made them say it but they sounded sincere enough.

Its little things like these that make my promises not just easy but necessary to keep.

Signing off for now,

hemaa narayan

 

 

 

 

Our kids seem to have the measure of America and its people right from day one. They are not fazed by the new country or what we adults think is the proper way of doing things. There is the Indian spirit of `swalpa adjust maadi’ in all its versatility going strong in all aspects of their stay here. We are looking at the new breed of Indians who are comfortable within their skins, completely at ease with the way they walk, talk and look. They in fact are giving the old Pop Eye signature line of `I yam what I yam’ a whole new dimension.

My mosquitoes `built’ a robot today they told me…all at once and all together, which is generally how they talk and do things. The robot one assumes has also been built this way. One therefore should also assume it would behave the same way. NASA might have to prepare itself for a whole new prototype. There would be no doubt about its origins as the little engineers informed me that they `wrote’ on it `made in India by Indians’.

The morning had more team building activities for my older lot. They were tested on communication skills, listening to and following commands, ability to think on one’s feet and team support and co-ordination. There were activities that included tubular mazes, walking together four at a time on what looked like long skis without benefit of the poles so you had to lift your feet together at the same time to move forward, getting from one location to the other using planks but with restraints on how you could use them, and so on, all of which necessitated the kids shouting directions at each other or only using gestures as per directions. I find that we Indians tend to think of solutions pretty quickly and competently but generally and typically have a problem in communicating it to others or literally in articulating our way out of a predicament. It’s not a spontaneous activity for us and hence an uncomfortable one. These exercises however are designed for addressing this very draw back and our kids have noticed that they need to be more vocal and voluble about their  thoughts and feelings and that speaking up for themselves could also mean speaking at the right time.

The mid-level kids also had the `5 degrees of freedom chair’ activity which like all things that have the word freedom in them implies a curtailment of it somewhere. The freedom here refers to the 5 movements of the chair… you are strapped to. Aditya decided that he was a little too advanced for this and so decided to go last but Ashish was game and was one of the first on the chair. Freedom can be expressed in various ways especially in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech, and Aditya decided to do this by squeaking a toy near Allison’s ears. Allison was not amused. Aditya was and I was trying not to be. But a few seconds later everyone was fine with one another.I cannot tell you how many times I’ve wished the parents of these kids could see how completely ingenuous they can be with the situations they find themselves in and similarly with the people and the places they find themselves in. It, for me, has truly been a continuing `distance’ education!

Some of the kids have been imbibing a little too freely of the cold sodas provided by the Coke fountains during lunch time and have reported itchy throats and a sniffle or two. The `Sick Bay’ here that has lovely people to nurse the kids has been taking care of them almost immediately and keeping us constantly updated on their progress. Some of the kids get to spend the night there so that the resident Nurse can monitor their progress. Pavan , who had a mild temperature following a cough, is in residence at the Sick Bay tonight. Do not worry parents, the nurses assure me he’s fine and when I spoke to him, he was sure he’d be fine the next morning after his dose of cough medicine. Vandana is proudly sporting band-aids in two spots on her legs courtesy the dear Nurses again, after she scraped her knees at the swimming pool. `Not to worry’, she breezily said, `It’s cool’.

Pepperoni pizza to some of the uninitiated has proven mystifying in terms of genre. I had to introduce a timely intervention by quickly pointing out its animal origins and that the term `pepperoni’ had nothing much to do with the humble pepper. I was profusely thanked by the `pure’ vegetarians.

Huntsville is proudly called the `Rocket City’ due to the inception of its major rocket programme here and the fully equipped and functioning `Us Rocket and Space Centre’ which is currently where we are accommodated. The city strangely, at least to me, does not have a subway system and the lack of trains makes it difficult to get around. However they have a `Trolley’ bus that does a loop of the city and for $2 you can sit in it all day and ride around as I’ve found some people do or get off and on wherever you want to. My kids have not experienced this 6^th Degree of freedom yet. I suspect will only be a matter of time before they do, by when I hope we will be safely winging our way back to beautiful Bangalore.

My kids have introduced the Indian English and the Indian Accent in all their multidimensional glory to the Space Camp. I hear a lot of the Counselors go `Huh??’ after a particularly speedy question or remark by one of them. One of my kids, after one such encounter perhaps, mentioned that the `foreigners’, conveniently and perhaps innocently forgetting that we were the foreigners here, don’t always have all the answers.

Keep the questions coming kids, I thought. At the rate you are going the only racket amongst the rockets you hear here will have an Indian accent!!

Signing off for now,

hemaa narayan

Having loved the activities in Area 51 yesterday, we started off today by viewing and capturing various challenges that our kids were to face in the same Zone.

The activities today were

1)      Interplanetary Travel

2)      Tubular Trouble

3)      Trundles

4)      Whale Watch

5)      Confused Maze

After each activity the kids had to do a debrief session with the Counselor which helped them to improve their mission strategies. We were spectators to the progressive learning and visible improvement in team co-ordination and co-operation.

We recorded 2 Missions this afternoon which we saw our kids handle with great ease.

An activity called the Manned Maneuvering Unit or MMU had a child in the seat operating the controls to move the giant unit.

Another activity called `5 degrees of Freedom’ had the kid harnessed to a seat which moved in 5 directions.

We are eagerly waiting to see our older children operate something called the 1/6^th Gravity chair later on during the day of which we shall report tomorrow.

Till then,

The Chaperones

 

Today was great fun for kids as well as us as the camp activities were in full swing. It began with` high rope alpha’ for the older kids. One had to climb a 32 ft pole, stand on the disc hit a hanging rope and come down. The kids were secured by three ropes and managed by 7 people Our kids did very well in spite of  it being  a challenging task.

 

In the same place named Area 51 our middle level kids took part in `Confused Muse’. This was a game to build team spirit which required planning and participation from each of the kids.

 

After a bland lunch, we went on to record our first Mission which was `Alpha Mission’ for the middle level group/ The Mission was accomplished in the given time.

 

The last event of the day was `MAT’ or Multi Axis Trainer’ for the young ones. The little ones bravely sat one by one in the chair which was spinning in all possible directions. A few even wanted a repeat.

 

We eagerly as always wait for the next day’s activities.

 

The Chaperones

Our kids were in uniform today. NASA uniforms. I had a moment of private rejoicing when I was told by a sartorially disappointed teenager that `our school shirts fit better’. When your uniforms are considered a better option you without any restraint go  `Yeah, so there.’ And I did. To get back to the uniforms… …the ones that didn’t fit well. They were colour coded to suit the groups and the category the kids belong to. Some wore grey with `Advanced Academy’ at the back and some wore blue with `Space camp’ on them. My mosquitoes were in red and looked ready to draw some red out of others. They were swallowed in the giant shirts but predictably thought that was `cool’. I suspect the glee came from not being able to see the other person’s skirts or shorts since the T Shirts were so big they sometimes hit the kids below the knee. The little tyrants also fervently promised to take care of each other and would we not `really keep checking on them please’. My antenna went up on that one but even I know a sincere plea when I hear it.

The older ones started on the nervously awaited `leadership training’. They began with adventure sports that tested trust, team building, and the ability to not give up. Picture this… you don’t really have to try very hard since you’ll be able to see the pix…a 32 ft tall metal pole with metal `staples’ that serve as rungs to climb up on about 3″ wide each, on it’s side. The top of the pole has a circumference of about 10″. You are harnessed while your team mates `belay’ the rope you are attached to. One team belays it to help you up and the other to get you down. Your job’s to let them do theirs while you climb the little itty bitty staples to reach the top, stand on the 10″ top, turn 180 degrees, even if you weigh 85 kilos and your feet are hanging on either side of the small disc you are standing on, let yourself fly to touch a bit of rope hanging there for just that very purpose and then stay suspended in air in your harness while your team safely belays you down. ALL MY KIDS DID IT!! I felt like I would burst with pride. Especially when Chiranthan yelled `Mera Bharath Mahan’ after I’d screamed it in nationalistic fervour a few seconds ago, though I suspect his shout was inspired more by the need to shout something , anything, while flinging himself through space!!.

 The evening has `Multi Axis Training’ for the mosquitoes and the Missions that we can record are also on at around the same time. We get tp sit in the viewing and recording room where we have TV monitors to view the various activities the kids are involved in which incorporate gadgets and devices that simulate the Astronauts Mission activities. We are allowed to watch and record the activities of the kids and these DVDs are then handed over to us after we finalise the edits and its entire contents.

I hear most of my kid speaking with a definite American drawl these days. The simulations I notice hence are not confined to the machines alone!!

My mosquitoes are now on the Multi Axis Trainer which‘s basically your torture chair strapped between two metal circles, each of which rotates on a different axis while…wait for it… you are in it. Characteristically Aditya was the first to get on with Mohit and Karthik close behind. Aashish  at his point  suddenly developed a deep interest in a book he said he has left behind which he hopes will allow him to slip away with his deeply questionable spirit of courage, in tact. Allison a 10 year old who’s done the MAT twice already, tells me to `youtube’ this embarrassing episode of a boy not wanting to go on the MAT.`It will be #2 in half a week’, she says. Ashish is now determinedly strapping himself up on the chair. No`Gurrrl’ of whatever nationality’s going to hold his pride up to question. Moral of the story `Girls everywhere know how boys will be boys”.

What, however, has always impressed me about the Westerner is that despite the idiosyncrasies that make a foreigner one in our eyes, there is this generic conscientiousness that they have toward the work that is allotted to them irrespective of their own personal situation, status, learning or belief. It is all pervasive and is palpable in all their activities whether it is driving the bus, security guard duties, cleaning the cafeteria or watching over 60 kids who think they each are in charge of Space Camp. I had evidence of this when I spoke to one of the ladies at the Cafeteria which seems to have hungry people in it through the day. `You must be tired of seeing people eat all the time,’ I said. `Not really’, she replied, `I have a big family at home.’

I rest my case.

The mighty ships of the skies hover over us while their deadlier life forms hover around us. NASA, after all the security and technology my friends, is home to the friendly, very familiar neighbourhood..mosquitoes!! The real ones this time, not my Indian beauties.

Signing off for now

hemaa narayan