Space Camp Hall of Fame

Dan Oates was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in 2007. Dan has worked at Space Camp for 18 years exclusively with visually impaired children. He is the founder of SciVis (Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students) which gives blind students, who are unable to see the world around them, the chance to launch the Space Shuttle and land it safely. He has helped bring new technology such as brail panels in the simulators and moveable monitors to Space Camp in order to help these children. Dan brings joy and confidence to these children each year as he provides them with a once in a lifetime experience. The Space Camp Hall of Fame was designed to honor graduates, former employees and supporters who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers or made considerable in-kind contributions in an effort to help further the goals of the Space Camp program.

Dr. James Rice was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in 2007. Dr. Rice began his career in space exploration as a Space Camp counselor in 1985. He went on to land an internship where he had the chance to help select the landing site for the first robot to Mars. While at Arizona State University, Dr. Rice helped to develop the robots Spirit and Opportunity which have been exploring the surface of Mars for several years. His next project will be developing a robot that will look for previous life on the surface of Mars.

Ed Buckbee was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in 2007 some 30 years after he and Dr. von Braun first discussed the idea of Space Camp. The two wanted to inspire children to pursue careers in the fields of engineering, math, and science. So 5 years later in 1982, Space Camp opened its doors and welcomed 700 students. Since that time Space Camp has caught the world’s attention, inspiring a Hollywood movie entitled, of course, Space Camp and landing Ed Buckbee on shows such as Late Night with David Letterman. Despite the media fame that Space Camp received, the original desire to inspire children to become interested in math and science, the desire that Ed Buckbee and Dr. Wernher von Braun had in 1977, continues today.

Amanda Stubblefield was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2007. As a child, Amanda witnessed the first woman travel into space onboard the Challenger. Since that moment she knew she wanted to pursue a career in the space program. Amanda attended space camp for the first time in 1987 and returned in 1995 to serve as a counselor for several years. She received an engineering degree from Vanderbilt and went on to be employed in Houston, TX at the Johnson Space Center. There she works with astronauts and cosmonauts that will travel to the space station. The Space Camp Hall of Fame was designed to honor graduates, former employees and supporters who have distinguished themselves in their respective careers or made considerable in-kind contributions in an effort to help further the goals of the Space Camp program.

In 2007, Dr. Wernher von Braun became the first inductee into the Space Camp Hall of Fame. This was, of course, only fitting because of Dr. von Braun’s many contributions to the space program. His fascination with rocketry and space began at an early age. Dr. von Braun went from flying his childhood wagon around the neighborhood to building and launching the Apollo 11 rocket. He dreamed of one day colonizing the moon and launching a manned mission to Mars, but, as America’s interest in space flight waned, Dr. von Braun found less and less money to fund the space program. He began speaking at colleges and universities, hoping to inspire students to take as many math and science courses as possible and to take an interest in space flight. His many accomplishments rightfully earned him the title the Father of Modern Space Flight.