We spent the first day of our camp in the county of Fengtai, Beijing, and
one of the more interesting spots we visited was the Qianxuesheng
science institute, where we got to experience several activities that we could never have personally had the chance to.
I was in charge of the control system
during the mock space shuttle launch, and I actually managed to learn so much about the complicacies and preparations required for a successful space shuttle launch. It was definitely an enjoyable experience shouting reports to my fellow mates and in ensuring the success of the mock launch. After that, we proceeded to build our small rocket, and even though I was very bad at handicraft, my rocket actually fired pretty well during the test fire, but the parachute did not deploy well. It culminated in a space training room where we got to experience a rotating cylinder and our challenge was to walk through without falling. This required excellent brain limb coordination and simulates a space shuttle in orbit, rotating around the earth. The most enjoyable ride was on the inverted stationary chair which would rotate constantly to simulate a no gravity environment, it was very much similar to a rollercoaster ride, albeit without the speed. Thereafter, we also got to learn more about Chinas space history, and delved deeper into Chinas spacecraft, astronauts, and accomplishments in the space industry. In Singapore, our western education often exposes us only to NASA, the Soviet Union, but I have never personally heard about Chinas space industry, as such it was an interesting learning journey that equipped me with more knowledge about Chinas development and push for its own global positioning system. It was definitely a memorable experience that our group went through in the first day of the aerospace camp.