Space Ops Academy

 Little Princess was accepted into two NCSA camps this sumer.  

I do not know what NCSA stands for, but I do know that these are Civil Air Patrol camps for cadets to develop various skills/further studies in areas of particular interest. 

Little Princess loves space, so she applied for this camp.

She also applied for a leadership position at the camp and was selected as a flight commander.

The best I can understand about this particular NCSA is that it was kind of a glorified career fair focused on space.

The cadets spent a great deal of their time touring highly classified areas, so we have few pictures of the week.  At one location, the check-in process took several hours . . . and that was even with the cadets having submitted documentation in advance!

They participated in lectures by various career leaders in the US Space Force, from companies that build space equipment, from various military bases, and at USAFA (again for Little Princess!).

STEM class

Space Force presentation

They also hiked, bowled, picnicked, and hung out playing games during free time. 

Little Princess said it was "very chill" and that it was super encouraging and educational for her.

They did a reasonable amount of written work, including writing two career dossiers for Space Force jobs they might someday consider.  Little Princess was very stressed about writing these because they were for grades, and not passing would keep her from graduating from this NCSA.

But no problem.

She passed!

And she graduated. :)

For me, as her mom, the most educational part of the camp for Little Princess was flying alone with a plane change in Denver!  

Both ways.

But she handled it all with panache!

I am grateful for apps that show maps of the airports that helped her know where to go, and I'm grateful that she texted us at home with each bit of progress along the way.

She's still only 16 and was traveling alone.

I'm proud of her.

While she was gone, the rest of us had a quiet week at home--library day, cleaning, reading together, free time, pick up baseball games with the neighbors, and preparing for our trip to Utah that was fast approaching.

Oh!  I forgot!  Not all quiet!

The boys took their first (Brother and Beowulf) and second (Mister Man) O-flight!

They loved it and can't wait to take another one.

The flight wasn't without incident.

Poor Mister Man, unbeknownst to us, was coming down with a stomach bug, and he threw up all over himself and the plane just before the flight was supposed to end.  Instead of taking a final lap over the city, they headed right back to the airport.  He was embarrassed, but there was nothing that could have helped the situation.  

He was sick for a few more days.

But everyone was healthy by the time Little Princess came home and it was time to leave for Utah.