2016

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  Norcross, Georgia

  Jason Hopkins

  B.S., Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  M.S., George Washington University

  In his aerospace career, Jason Hopkins has worked on satellite systems for Lockheed Martin and on NASA’s Orion spacecraft. He has managed the daily operations of the massive Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center and served as a NASA Fellow advising U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate’s Science and Space Subcommittee. Capitol Hill is a long way, however, from the Georgia town where a little boy created an imaginary space ship from his mother’s laundry basket. Two trips to Space Camp in middle school cemented Hopkins’ desire for an aerospace career. He carried his Space Camp log book everywhere with him and would rattle off space shuttle facts to anyone who would listen. Hopkins is now a part of the next generation of space exploration as he helps develop a reusable launch craft for Masten Space Systems. He also hasn’t given up on going into space himself, this time as a NASA astronaut on a real space craft.

  
  

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  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  Dr. Amy Kaminski

  B.A., Cornell University
  M.A., George Washington University
  M.S. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
  Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

  When Dr. Amy Kaminski was 8, her grandfather sat up lawn chairs in the back yard so they could watch the Perseid meteor shower together. That’s when the “space bug” hit her, and she began reading everything she could about astronomy. At 11, she came to Space Camp for the first of four times and returned as a counselor while in college. Like many Space Camp trainees, Kaminski wanted to be an astronaut, but she ultimately realized she was more interested in the “how” and “why” of space exploration. She wanted to understand and contribute to the important choices the country must make in continuing the space program. With degrees in earth and planetary science, public policy and science and technology studies, Kaminski’s career has included developing the science and education budgets for NASA and advising NASA’s chief scientist on space policy matters, including ways to engage the public in NASA’s mission.

  
  

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  Newton, Massachusetts

  George Whitesides

  B.A., Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
  M.Phil., Trinity College, University of Cambridge

  Fulbright Scholar to Tunisia

  George Whitesides is a self-avowed space nerd with a love of adventure. As a child, he would look at the sky on clear nights and think “I want to go up there someday.” He pored over astronaut biographies and came to Space Camp at 16, where he received the Right Stuff Award. A young man of many interests, however, he studied government and considered becoming a lawyer, but it was always the thought of space travel that excited him most. He became the Executive Director of the National Space Society before serving as Chief of Staff for NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. For his work, Whitesides received the Distinguished Service Medal, the highest honor the agency bestows. He is now the CEO of Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company, working with Sir Richard Branson on the development of commercial spaceflight vehicles. It’s on one of those crafts that Whitesides plans to make his first flight into space soon.

  
  

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  Space Camp

  On June 6, 1986, “Space Camp” opened in theaters, igniting the desire of thousands of children to come to the real Space Camp®. Space Camp was the inspiration for the film in which a group of teens, a 12-year-old Max, a literal-minded robot named Jinx and a NASA-trained astronaut take off on an unexpected journey to space. In honor of the 30th anniversary of its release and the many children who wore out their VHS copies of the movie, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center is inducting the film’s all-star cast - Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Joaquin Phoenix, who was known as Leaf at the time, Tate Donovan and Tom Skerritt - into the Space Camp Hall of Fame. Harry Winer directed and five-time Academy Award winner John Williams composed the score for the movie, which was filmed in part on the grounds of the Rocket Center.

  
  

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