{"id":3842,"date":"2014-03-02T11:27:18","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T11:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/?p=3842"},"modified":"2015-06-02T11:29:48","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T11:29:48","slug":"the-onion-modernized-space-camp-allows-kids-to-simulate-frustration-over-lack-of-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/2014\/03\/02\/the-onion-modernized-space-camp-allows-kids-to-simulate-frustration-over-lack-of-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"The Onion: “Modernized Space Camp Allows Kids To Simulate Frustration Over Lack Of Funding”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Space Camp attendees react to news that budget pressures have postponed their mission indefinitely.<\/p>\n

HUNTSVILLE, AL\u2014Aiming to provide attendees with an authentic glimpse into the nation\u2019s space program, representatives for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center announced Thursday that its newly updated Space Camp will allow children to simulate the anger and mounting frustration experienced by NASA personnel over a continual lack of funding.<\/p>\n

Camp organizers explained that the redesigned education program will offer kids the unique opportunity to contend with all of the budgetary restrictions and bureaucratic red tape impeding the progress of actual astronauts and researchers, allowing children from grades four to six to immerse themselves in a true-to-life NASA environment in which financial shortfalls and endless procedural delays plague them at every turn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Space Camp, each attendee experiences the trials of real-life astronauts who simply are not provided the resources they need to explore outer space,\u201d said director Deborah Barnhart, noting that campers get a firsthand look at what it\u2019s like to pursue cutting-edge astronomical research on a budget that, when adjusted for inflation, is a mere fraction of what it was in the 1960s. \u201cOur campers endure constant setbacks throughout their week here, from engaging in spaceflight training modules that can be shut down at a moment\u2019s notice, to working tirelessly on a solar probe project only to be informed that an across-the-board spending freeze has led to the indefinite suspension of their work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKids will walk away from a week at Space Camp knowing exactly what it\u2019s like to be an American astronaut,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Barnhart told reporters that the modernized camp offers attendees an array of hands-on activities that include designing next-generation spaceships, searching for virtual extrasolar planets, and building a robotic Mars rover, any one of which could be effectively derailed by an abrupt mandate that the research and development process be made more cost-effective.<\/p>\n

Additionally, campers will reportedly be able to sigh and throw their hands up in exasperation within a replica of the actual mission control room at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center after learning that a reconnaissance mission to scan for the presence of life on Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa has been scrapped just weeks prior to the intended launch date.<\/p>\n

Program officials also highlighted their efforts to make the experience as realistically discouraging as possible by furloughing a significant number of campers immediately at the start of each weeklong session.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put camp attendees in the shoes of dedicated NASA scientists whose attempts to further scientific understanding through the analysis of asteroid composition are halted by one of our camp staffers playing the role of a U.S. senator targeting all \u2018nonessential\u2019 initiatives,\u201d said counselor Tyler Campbell. \u201cWhen they take their seats in our mock congressional chamber, campers will work together to deliver an impassioned yet ultimately futile request for continued support of NASA until they have no choice but to stand up and leave, having just witnessed their life\u2019s work go up in smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you see the stunned expressions on these kids\u2019 faces as they realize their goals and dreams are no longer attainable because of political pressures completely out of their control, that\u2019s when you know they\u2019ve gained a valuable understanding of our space program,\u201d Campbell added.<\/p>\n

Early participants in the new program have reportedly hailed the experience as \u201ceye-opening,\u201d with many describing their visceral disappointment watching satellite feeds of their Chinese and Russian Space Camp counterparts pursuing scientific endeavors that were eliminated in the U.S. years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never forget what it was like to go to Space Camp and repeatedly attempt to convince the budget committee of the importance of our solar wind study so they would cancel the other teams\u2019 projects and not ours,\u201d said 11-year-old camper Sara Andrews, who explained that she spent most of the week steadily reducing the scope of her simulated mission so that it would remain financially viable. \u201cI\u2019m just glad I wasn\u2019t working on the asteroid flyby project that was ultimately deemed too cost-prohibitive and was contracted out to a private aeronautics firm. The kids on that team just had to sit around and do nothing for the rest of camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to work at NASA when I grow up so I can constantly stress over limited financial resources and have my scientific projects canceled for real,\u201d she added. \u201cThat is, if NASA even still exists then.\u201d<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theonion.com\/article\/modernized-space-camp-allows-kids-to-simulate-frus-36148<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Space Camp attendees react to news that budget pressures have postponed their mission indefinitely. HUNTSVILLE, AL\u2014Aiming to provide attendees with an authentic glimpse into the nation\u2019s space program, representatives for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center announced Thursday that its newly updated Space Camp will allow children to simulate the anger and mounting frustration experienced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3842"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3843,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842\/revisions\/3843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/factualfiction.com\/marsartists\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}