Day 2 of Astronaut Barbie's antics

I hope you all woke up this morning to glitter, sunshine and rainbows! I've forced myself to survive the first day that I was not dressed in my flight suit....sadness, but all days cannot be at Space Academy... I want to make sure I get all the fun, amazing experiences written down for all of posterity, so I will continue on with my amazing memories!!!

Day two part two!!! So, following the first part of rocket construction, we moved on to training for the lunar mission (Orion) -- so totally awesome if I do say so myself! Let me reiterate, this is (earmuffs kids) f%$#*ng cool!!!!! And yes, that stands for Battlestar Gallectica's Fracking Cool (clearly)!!!!

Dani and I were Mission Specialists 2 for this mission. According to our Mission Specialist 1 (John "PC") I was considered to be a small humanoid attached to her hip... Guess I could be called worse... This is the training time where we saw the Orion capsule, the space station, and where we would be doing our E"A"VA (extra "awesome" vehicular activity)!

In station- part of the experiments are related to hydroponics. Very cool stuff- kiddos need to learn about this since we've been killing the earth for so long!

Science is cool! Here I am looking into the microscope to see cells up close!

This is me chilling out above the air lock. The next picture is the bigger image. Glad we're just in training or I would be in trouble without my space suit and helmet!!!!

Chilling out in the flight deck while it's not chaotic. I'm sure that Aimee and Cassandra know what they're doing (team Discovery Commander and Pilot for this mission)!!!

I can't help but get excited when there are switches/buttons to press... What a nice mission overview! Cannot wait until the mission!!!!!

Dani, Vince and I outside an orbiter!!!

Look who we ran into!!! (you can see me hanging out of Dani's flight suit). Vince Vazzo- Space Camp Hall of Famer (and one of Dani's old camp kiddos)!


Next we had time to finish up our mission patch. Can I tell you that we had this *amazing* artist on our team (team Discovery if you've forgotten) that had awesome skills. He helped us think about what the meaning for our patch was and how to make it interesting. 

So, our team was made up of all Space Camp/Academy alumni (except me, but since I was considered a  small humanoid attached to Dani's hip, we'll call it all alumni) we wanted to create a patch that resonated with us all. The three different flags were from 1) camp crew trainer Mal who is from Australia, 2) Chika, from Japan, and 3) those of us from the U.S. of A. Second, the Capsule represents Orion - the future of missions to the moon and beyond now that we no longer are using the STS (space shuttle) for space transport. Thirdly, if you look at the view of the earth, those with a keen eye might say "Oye there's a continent that looks like a kangaroo!" By George, you'd be correct. Mal challenged us to make a mission patch that also had a kangaroo in it (reflective of Hoot's mission patch where they were asked to have a dragon in it before it would be approved). Finally,  the Latin phrase roughly translates to "Been there, done that..." a shout out to all alumni who have been here before and choose to do it again!  An awesome Mission Patch that I think is fully representative of team Discovery!!!

After dinner, it was time for our mission!!!!! Here PK, Dani, and I are starting on the EVA! We need to assure all systems are go for the soon to be arriving crew who will replace us following our 300+ day tour on the lunar space station!!!

Dani, PK and I embarking on the EVA. We need to check the O2 levels to assure the lunar station is ok. 

Changing out the tanks!

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Awesome stuff ensues!!!

Now we need to make repairs for a battery on a space walk (EVA)!!!! Note- I have my helmet on, so I'm ok!!!!

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The needed repairs have been made! We kicked ass!!!!

It's  been a long (yet successful) day!! Time to Abort to the Library (previously Abort to Otters) to celebrate a successful mission!!!!

Celebration time with my team Discovery!!!


 

Don't mind if I do celebrate a bit!!!

Guess it's time for lights out...That's all for day two!! Catch you for the Day three post... Team Awesome (aka Discovery) will be on to more adventures and I'll be there to document them --with glitter in tow!!!! Good night and glitter dreams with unicorns!!!!