2000 Astronaut Scholar Annual Meeting
Another incredibly successful Scholar Weekend was held in 2000: the 5th annual Astronaut Scholar Weekend. The four-day schedule started at Give Kids the World Village, where the Astronaut Scholars Honor Society held its annual meeting. That evening, scholars and their guests were treated to a Polynesian Luau at SeaWorld. In spite of the unusual indoor environment, the luau was enjoyable, and the company of friends was even better. This event is typically the first chance that scholars have to get to know each other and find common ground in both personal and technical areas of interest. Some of our scholars have attended the annual event every year and enjoy meeting again each May. The night was topped off by our annual visit to a local bar which serves over 100 types of tequila.
The following day, Astronaut Scholars and their guests were awed during a VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Charlie Buckley, former chief of security at KSC, was our host along with a current NASA employee. Both provided interesting commentary throughout the journey. As usual, Charlie gains access to highly restricted areas of the Space Center; even our NASA host was impressed! Astronauts be warned - Charlie has a lot of interesting stories about you, and he enjoys sharing them with your scholarship winners!
A couple of different groups of scholars gathered again in the evening for additional camaraderie. One group attended the Orlando Predators arena football game, and another visited Disney s Pleasure Island.
On Saturday, the Astronaut Scholars were thrilled by the opportunity to attend a private luncheon with several astronauts from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle programs as well as other members of the ASF. The luncheon was hosted by Give Kids the World, in the cupcake room of the gingerbread house! Buzz Aldrin made the rounds, talking to each and every scholar before his early departure. That was much appreciated! Then, each scholar was able to have lunch with one or more astronauts and get to know each other better. After the meal, we witnessed the second mini-Nascar race which pitted astronauts against Nascar drivers and industry executives in miniature race cars. They didn't quite reach the speed of their Corvettes, but the astronauts gave the other drivers a real challenge!
Finally, on Sunday morning, several scholars met to say goodbye at a brunch. The Astronaut Scholar network will take ASF into the future while advancing science and technology in America.