6.30 Wake-up
7.00 Breakfast
7.30 Charlie Mission Training – This training involved launching the shuttle to the international space station to repair a satellite in orbit. Once again the Von Tiesenhausen team split off into groups and rotated between jobs that required different specialised training: Mission Specialists (astronaut space walks), Pilots and Commanders in control of the Orbiter, Mission Control (solving many problems) and the Space Station crew in charge of experiments and flicking switches.
9.00 Delta Mission Training – Same as the Charlie Mission training but with a rotation of different jobs for different trainees.
10.30 Alpha Mission – And so begins the real challenges with a simulated AOA (Abort Once Around) where The Orbiter needs to return to Earth after one Earth orbit due to a major malfunction such as a engine error. Even under extreme pressure (encountering problems and challenges) a relatively smooth flowing mission ensues making a good start for the following three missions.
11.30 Bravo Mission – Similar to Alpha with different problems that take longer and slowly begin to frustrate the team just a little further, but yet again we managed to deal with what was thrown at us.
12.30 Lunch
1.00 Charlie Mission – Once well fed, with more energy and new jobs to preform, many were exposed to different environments but by now we had the hang of things and finished on a relatively good note apart from a skewed landing…
2.00 Delta Mission – The last mission for the day was cut short due to the IMAX movie viewing was to begin slightly early, so we landed prior to finishing majority of our checklists and rushed over to the cinema.
3.00 IMAX - To put it short- a 3D movie about flies going to space (obviously intended for a younger age) even though the effects were excellent.
4.00 Rocket Construction – Period Two of our groups building our rockets getting that inch closer to finally getting to launch our masterpieces. Our piles of cardboard actually start to look like rockets with parachutes and engines beginning to be attached and almost ready for lift off. Only one more period before lift off!
5.30 Dinner
6.00 Scuba/Pilot Training – The team then split into two to perform scuba training and pilot training. The pilot training involved members entering a centrifuge to experience 3.2 Gs of force holding you to your seat, then we entered a room of flight simulators to gun down our friends and barrel roll in the planes. A lot of fun was had by all. The Scuba team, however, went through a rigorous medical check before being briefed on the basics of scuba. The dive master and four support divers led the crew through mask clearance, breathing techniques, neutral buoancy, etc. before descending to the bottom of a 7.00m tank. Here we had a great time throwing bowling balls, constructing frames, etc. to simulate working on tasks in a weightless environment. All made it out of the tank safely with huge smiles on our faces.
9.00 Abort Briefing – Last agenda for Day 9 was a quick 1 hour briefing on various abort procedures available for the space shuttles from launch, including whether or not they have actually been used and in some cases whether or not they are possible. All in all, an eventful day yet again, one that has challenged the team while creating a massive amount of fun for everyone.
10.30 Bed time
Written by Ryan B. and Jaidon
