Wow! It must be the week of X Prize related announcements. The latest is from XCOR, which successfully tested their new XR-4K5 engine on Monday. It’s just one stage in their plan to go suborbital and win the prize.

OK, the details I promised.

Karen and I decided a while back that we would do adventurous things for our decade birthdays (e.g. 30th, 40th) because it would give us something to look forward to rather than dread.

For Karen’s, she flew a plane and spent a month [not week; sorry K!] on her own in Europe. For mine, it had to be Space Camp, because I’ve wanted to go for years. It’s a one-week immersion into astronaut training, using real (if older) NASA procedures and equipment.

I’m going a few weeks after my birthday, from December 28th to January 2nd. For the Shuttle missions I’ll be trained as a Mission Specialist, mostly because I don’t have the coordination to fly the thing or handle that robot arm. A good solid tech, that’s what they need. ;)

The whole thing sounds exciting, but I’m most intrigued by things like the buoyancy trainer tank, where I get to strap on SCUBA gear (first time ever) and work on space station components in a weightless-like environment. Kind of a poor-man’s Vomit Comet, if you will.

I’m going to read up on Shuttle systems before I go, but otherwise there’s not much to do but count the days until I’m 30. Come on, 30! Oh, and plan for what I’ll do when I turn 40, or perhaps when I turn 50.