Tammi Dean was at first overjoyed to hear that her seven year old son Jackson had won an all-expense paid trip to space camp based on his submission to a NASA-sponsored Denver School of Science and Technology essay contest on space travel. However, her pride quickly changed to concern when she was notified that space camp is actually in space.
According to NASA, in an attempt to save the Space Program, whose funding has been drastically cut in recent years, they have been forced to think “outside the box.”
Scott Bauer, head of research and development for NASA, said “it really was a no brainer. . . kids love space and have the small dexterous hands necessary to assist with the much needed repairs to the space station. NASA studies have shown it is substantially less expensive to train a precocious seven year old human, then the chimpanzees that were used for previous missions. A human child can be taught in three weeks of intensive training, what it took us three years to teach the chimps.”
While children’s small immature hearts are more susceptible to failure at zero gravity, NASA has anticipated this possible complication and has equipped both the shuttle and space station with state of the art defibrillators. Testing of the new more economical shuttle, designed to hold just one child, has shown the chance of spontaneous combustion upon re-entry is less than 16%, which is considered well within acceptable risk levels.
Tammi Dean tells the Stapletonion, “When I first realized Jackson would be traveling to space to spend two weeks alone on the space station, I obviously was concerned, but Jackson has always loved space and robots and unfortunately I had already purchased a non-refundable ticket to Sonoma for a girls’ trip. I do feel a bit guilty, but I am really in need of some “me” time and it is Jackson’s dream to travel to space after all.”
Jackson is set to launch into space on June 10, 2012 from Cape Canaveral. He will return to earth two weeks later at a presently undetermined location, but likely somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.
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