SpaceCamp

SpaceCamp is a 1986 American science fiction adventure film inspired by the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Directed by Harry Winer, story by Patrick Bailey and Larry B. Williams, screenplay by Clifford Green (as W. W. Wicket) and Casey T. Mitchell, the film stars Kate Capshaw, Kelly Preston, Larry B. Scott, Lea Thompson, Tate Donovan and Leaf Phoenix. SpaceCamp received mixed reviews and is famous for being a "marketing nightmare," as it was released less than five months after the Space Shuttle Challenger accident of January 28, 1986 (although filming was completed before the disaster occurred). At the time of release, some thought the movie was trying to capitalize on the shuttle tragedy and should never have been released. However, those associated with SpaceCamp disagreed and added they had taken extra care to avoid any appearance of exploiting a national tragedy. The film performed poorly at the box office, grossing less than $10 million in the US. The script was later adapted into a novel, which did include references to the Challenger explosion and some of the kids' decisions to attend Space Camp in the wake of said tragedy. Plot Four teenagers - Kathryn, Kevin, Rudy, and Tish - and 12-year-old Max go to Space Camp at Huntsville, Alabama, for three weeks during the summer to learn about the NASA space program and mimic Astronaut training. They meet their instructor Andie Bergstrom, a NASA-trained astronaut who is frustrated that she has not yet been assigned to a Space Shuttle mission. Her bitterness is compounded by the fact that her husband, camp director Zach Bergstrom, is an astronaut who has walked on the Moon.