3..2..1..BLASTOFF!! Mission to Mars

One of the advantages of finding other homeschooling friends and acquaintances is the group field trip.  Ones that cost is prohibitive or it just isn't possible on an individual family basis.  I've stated in previous posts how we have been out of the field trip loop for the past few years.  This was another 'dipping our toes back in' type of trip.  I almost didn't have Archie participate, but the whole entire writing club was going and someone else in the community cancelled.  Boy, am I glad Archie went on this one!

The trip took place at the Challenger Space Center in Dayton, OH.  A Mission to Mars!  An exploration of what would one need, or what difficulties would one encounter to put a team on Mars.  There was lots of preparation work beforehand.  Experiments defining life, communication exercises, type of protective gear needed, hydroponics (because one would need to grow food), normal bodily functions (blood pressure, etc.), among others.  Archie watched much Nova about space exploration and other themed documentaries on Netflix.  He did most of the prep work before the writing club on Mondays.  I am thankful for being able to hitchhike on some of the planning of the other Mamas, because Archie got so much out of the preparation.  It made for long Mondays for about a month--one hour for Mars Prep and an hour and a half for writing class--but it was so worth it!  

Another bonus was that I was able to send Archie to the field trip itself with his partner-navigator for the field trip, Brian.  Meaning I didn't have to lug the little kids with me and keep them quiet and still at the appropriate times.  Archie was thrilled to be able to ride with Brian's family and they took a bonus trip to the Wright Brothers' Flying Field--Huffman Prairie.  Yes, the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk, but this is where they perfected and flew the Wright Flyer III after their very first flights in Kitty Hawk.  Also, they operated their Wright School of Aviation at Huffman Prairie.

Here is Archie and Brian in action on the Mission to Mars...I blurred out Brian's face, because I wasn't sure if his Mom was okay with me posting on the web.  But he has defined facial features in real life.  Really.  It was just such a great action shot of Archie that I really wanted to include it.

Archie and Brian got an extra 'kudos' from the educator facilitating the Mission...They completed their part of the mission in record time.  The Navigator Position is typically done by kids in middle school.  Archie is 10 and Brian is 8.  They impressed the facilitator by their teamwork...they worked so well together and had great communication.  The facilitator said that most kids aren't able to complete that portion of the mission in the time allowed.  

Since I wasn't going with him, I made sure Archie brought his camera on the trip and told him to take pictures that I could use on the blog.  He took numerous pictures.  Numerous.  Mostly pictures of other pictures on the wall.  Posters which decorated the Space Center.  Pictures of empty rooms, and what have you.  Perhaps only three or so with people actually in them.  And those were tops of heads and such.  Thankfully, the adults he was with got me some usable pictures!  And don't get me started on the extra-long videos Archie took of planes flying overhead at the Wright Brothers Field.  I'm sure it was really cool experiencing it there, but the multiple videos of a plane flying overhead were...well...not as exciting as it probably had been in person.  

This is the work station as they were leaving.

The Challenger Space Center got a 'thumbs up' from Archie!

The below pictures were taken at the Wright Brothers' Flying Field.  This is totally an 'Archie' kind of picture.  That's a lot of poop running down that sign!

Archie was very impressed with these sling shot apparatuses which helped propel the Wright Brothers' planes using the weights in the center.

It was a fantastic trip for Archie.  I knew he loved it because he kept coming down after he was supposed to be in bed that evening to tell me some other nugget of information he gleaned from the trip.  It was also good for him to have 'guy bonding time' with someone outside the family.  Brian is a great kid and I am happy that Archie has a new friend.