Line #41 Film/SpaceCamp


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/19281166.jpg]]
2
3	->''"My god...we have lift off."''
4
5	''[=SpaceCamp=]'' is a family adventure movie from 1986 about a group of kids at the titular real life U.S. [=SpaceCamp=] who unexpectedly get launched up into space for real. However the shuttle was still in pre-flight prepping and thus wasn't prepared for any kind of full mission. With only a limited air supply and virtually no communication with Earth, the kids and their instructor (played by Creator/KateCapshaw) must [[PowerOfFriendship work together]] to get home safe and sound.
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7	It was released amid a marketing nightmare that came about from the 1986 ''Challenger'' shuttle disaster that claimed the lives of seven American astronauts[[note]]Including a civilian school teacher.[[/note]] and grounded the shuttle program indefinitely until the cause could be determined and rectified. It didn't help, either, that the malfunction in the film [[HarsherInHindsight partly resembled the malfunction in life]].
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9	Many contemporary reviews were colored by the disaster. More recent reviews don't treat it much better. But some saw past the disaster and were moved by it: in [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/lea-thompson,69639/ a 2012 interview,]] Creator/LeaThompson said many fans told her they were inspired by the film.
10	----
11	!!''[=SpaceCamp=]'' provides examples of:
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13	* AccidentalAstronaut: A group of children is attending the titular space camp to learn about the NASA space program and experience astronaut training. When a malfunctioning robot hears one of them wish to go into space, it hacks the NASA computers and launches them into orbit while they're aboard a space shuttle.
14	* ActivationSequence: After hearing Max's wish to go into space, Jinx goes to the NASA main network, which he activates in a scene where the top of his main body lifts up with flashing lights coming out of it, while the computers activate one by one, their lights and screens coming on. He does it a second time later, but since we've already seen in by that point, this one only lasts about five seconds as opposed to more than thirty.
15	* AIIsACrapshoot: Although in this case it's more ArtificialStupidity rather than Artificial Malevolence.
16	* AlmostOutOfOxygen: A major plot point. As noted, the orbiter was not flight-ready, so they had a limited amount of oxygen on-board. Though they are able to recharge from ''Daedalus'', missing the re-entry window to save Andie put them back in the same boat, as they did not have enough oxygen to make the next re-entry window for Edwards AFB.
17	* ArcWords: "Max and Jinx, friends forever."
18	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: A Space Shuttle launch was never 3 ''g''[[note]]''g'' is the measure of acceleration that matches the normal gravitational force of Earth at sea level, or 9.8 meters/second squared. In layman's terms, it's how much heavier a person feels during acceleration.[[/note]] of acceleration during the entire launch. Forces during the SRB portion would typically be no higher than 2.5 ''g'' prior to their burnout, falling back to normal acceleration at SRB separation. Forces would gradually increase during the main engine burn, only peaking at 3 ''g'' just past T+7 minutes, at which point the orbiter's main engines would begin to throttle down to keep acceleration from going any higher to prevent injury to the crew. Still, the sudden jolt of SRB ignition would've definitely thrown an unrestrained Kathryn back in the flight deck as depicted.
19	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: One minor issue with the launch sequence: at external tank (ET) separation, the bottom of the external tank is depicted below the level of the orbiter's main engines. In the actual Space Shuttle stack, the external tank was entirely above. If it launched the way that one model set was built, the exhaust from the main engines would excessively heat the liquid hydrogen.
20	* AscendedFanboy: Max is an avid fan of ''{{Franchise/Star Wars}}'' and will make numerous references to the franchise in nearly every scene he appears in. Kevin even plays the part of Obi-Wan Kenobi to help Max get the courage to help Andie. This was after earlier in the film [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calling him out on his immaturity and his over-the-top fandom specifically]].
21	* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: Tish is in the middle of explaining her idea of sending Morse Code to NASA when she sees something interesting out the window.
22	-->'''Tish:''' Whoa. Is that India we're coming up on?
23	* AvoidTheDreadedGRating: "Shit" is uttered twice (once by Rudy, once by Andie), and "goddamn" is also used at least once.
24	* BatmanGambit: Jinx the robot tries to get Max into space while he's on the space shuttle "to fulfill his wish". He hacks into NASA's network and figures out how to fire up one of the shuttle's booster rockets, which on its own will cause the shuttle to shoot up briefly, then crash. However, his gambit is the operators at the control room will see the one booster firing up and choose to fire up the second booster to avoid killing everyone on board. Sure enough, it works.
25	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: "I wish I could go up into space." Andie was also wishing to go into space when she got scrubbed from the next launch; like Max, she ended up getting her wish anyway.
26	* BenevolentAI: Jinx, the robot that Max befriends.
27	* BigOMG: Max floats off into space behind a rogue oxygen tank, but he does ''this'' when he breaks off a satellite dish panel he grabbed to stop himself.
28	-->'''Andie:''' You think you're scared now? Wait 'til your parents get the bill for breaking ''Daedalus''.
29	* {{Bowdlerise}}: The version of the film released by Creator/FeatureFilmsForFamilies on VHS removes all the profanity, with the VHS cover actually advertising this version as "The Incredible Adventure Now Made Even Better For Families!".
30	* ChekhovsGun: Or in this case, Tish's belt, which is used to help Max fit inside the space suit so he can help Andie bring back the oxygen tanks. Credit Kathryn for getting the idea.
31	* ConvenientlyClosePlanet: The shuttle is launched outside of its launch window into an unplanned orbit -- but they still manage to make it to the unoccupied space station for oxygen supplies.
32	* CoolCar: Kevin's Jeep and Zach & Andie's Porsche Speedster.
33	* CoolPlane:
34	** Andie is seen getting out of a T-38 Talon trainer.
35	** Kathryn is seen [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight coming out of her father's Stearman bi-plane]] next to the Camp's parking lot.
36	* CoolSpaceship: The Space Shuttle Atlantis.
37	* CoolShades: Kevin and Andie wear Ray-Bans.
38	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: the one linchpin to the entire plot is Kevin stealing someone else's badge to get on the Blue Team. If he was put back on the Yellow Team where he belonged, we don’t get him tearing into Max after he gets caught off-site with Kathryn, leading to Jinx becoming the LiteralGenie and launching the Blue Team into orbit.
39	* DidNotThinkThisThrough: JINX apparently never considered that sending an unprepared shuttle, specifically one with just one tank of oxygen and short-range radio only, into space with people on board might not be the best idea. It only occurs to him after ''Atlantis'' is already in orbit, by which time it's too late to do anything about it.
40	* TheEasyWayOrTheHardWay: Andie lays down the law to Kathryn after the incident with Kevin, telling her ''how'' she can become a Shuttle commander. This also explains why Andie made her the ''pilot'' instead of the ''commander'' on the Blue Team.
41	-->'''Kathryn:''' Why are you so hard on me?\
42	'''Andie:''' Because someday, you're goin' up. But the only way you will is if you have every drill here down better than everyone else. There's no room for mistakes. Every 'i' dotted, every 't' crossed. That's the way I learned it. That's the way you'll learn it. You copy?\
43	'''Kathryn:''' I copy.
44	* EdutainmentShow: To a degree. It explains various things related to [=SpaceCamp=], the astronaut program, and the shuttle itself.[[note]]Including how astronauts go to the bathroom in space.[[/note]]
45	* EmergencyRefuelling: The class gets launched into space accidentally. The ship has enough fuel to safely return to Earth, but not enough oxygen. Their only choice to make it home alive is to swing up to the still-under-construction space station to swipe from the reserve supply handily strapped to the outer framework. Predictably, things go wrong.
46	%%* EntendreFailure: Jinx the robot.
47	* EurekaMoment:
48	** [[spoiler:After they miss the re-entry window, Kathryn realizes the same alternative landing site that Rudy vaguely remembered: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_Space_Harbor White Sands, New Mexico]], which Rudy got mixed up with White Plains, New York]].
49	** When Zach starts to realize Jinx is spouting out letters, not just breaking down again.
50	--->'''Jinx:''' C-O-M-E-I-N-C-O-N-T-R-O-L-C-O-M-E-I-N-C-O-N-T-R-O-L Come in, Control! Max's code!\
51	'''Zach:''' Morse code?\
52	'''Jinx:''' Max's code!\
53	'''Zach:''' [[PrecisionFStrike Damn it]], they're talking to us!
54	* EveryoneKnowsMorse: Tish[[note]]Who was "assigned" to "communications" at the beginning of the movie.[[/note]] thinks to use a telemetry switch to send Morse code in place of the nonfunctional radio. But it takes quite a while for anyone in the control room to notice: before Jinx identifies it, it's lost among all the other blinking lights. NASA makes their presence known by having ''every single light in the cabin blink in Morse''.
55	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: A meta example when Kathryn is strapped into the multi-axis trainer and instructed to stop its spinning. The machine is real; Space Campers are actually subjected to it at some point during their time at camp. However, the joystick she uses to try and counteract the rotation is a Hollywood prop, added for the film, that controls nothing. Neither Kathryn nor anyone else placed in the simulator would have any chance of "recovering from the spin".
56	* FieldPromotion: Andie takes the pilot seat over from Kathryn when ''Atlantis'' is launched. She later kicks Kevin out of the commander seat in favor of Kathryn for the orbit change burn to ''Daedalus''. In the end, Kevin and Kathryn would return to their original seats as commander and pilot following Andie's injury.
57	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
58	-->"We are T minus 19 days and counting towards main engine test of ''Atlantis''...".
59	* FreakyFashionMildMind: Tish, full stop. Under the EightiesHair and ValleyGirl look is a genius with a PhotographicMemory and a perfect SAT score.
60	* FriendOrIdolDecision: Not knowing Andie is stuck outside, NASA attempts to bring the shuttle down on auto-pilot. Kathryn finds the override, but if they override, they will miss the window to Edwards. Kathryn has a HeroicBSOD and Kevin overrides the controls at the last second, becoming the Mission Commander of the team again.
61	* HellIsThatNoise: The double klaxon that sounded when ''Atlantis'' ran out of oxygen storage during Andie and Max's EVA.
62	-->'''Kevin:''' Welp, that’s it, campers. [[OxygenMeter All we have left is the air in the cabin]].
63	* InstantAIJustAddWater: Jinx is a malfunctioning but sentient AI robot.
64	* {{Jerkass}}: Kevin. At the beginning of the film, he switches his credentials with those of another attendee just so he could get to be with Kathryn. Also, in another scene, after he and Kathryn were discovered to be making out at the launchpad, he yells at Max for Jinx spilling everything.
65	* LesserOfTwoEvils: The Mission Controller has to choose between letting the the booster fire alone when it overheats, which will pitch the rocket over on its nose, causing it to crash and explode; or launching a not-fully-flight-ready shuttle with children on board into space and an extremely uncertain outcome.
66	* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: In some ways the tech and abilities of the NASA shown in the movie are ahead of us - there's a sentient robot, a space station already up in orbit with the necessary oxygen tanks - but unless the plot demands otherwise, everything is mostly at the level it was when the film was released.
67	* LiteralGenie: Jinx sends the kids into space when he hears one wish to go there, no matter the consequences.
68	* LiteralMinded: Jinx the robot, who obeys any words to him that sound vaguely like a command.
69	* LivingOutAChildhoodDream: Since Andie Bergstrom was a child, she dreamed of traveling into space. As an adult, she became an astronaut but she never was assigned to a shuttle space mission; instead, she became the instructor of a group of teenagers at the space camp. Her dream unexpectedly comes true when launch control is forced to launch the shuttle with Andie and the kids inside. Of course, she's not happy because they have little oxygen and no supplies when she has to keep everybody alive as they figure out a way of returning to Earth.
70	* MachineMonotone: Both JINX the robot, and the voice given to the computer he communicates with.
71	* MistakenForAfterlife: Tish thinks the team has died twice during the mission on ''Atlantis''. First when they achieve orbit and she opens her eyes to see Kathryn floating in front of her, then after re-entry before NASA finally re-establishes audio contact with ''Atlantis''.
72	* MoodWhiplash: The kids go from excited to panicked very quickly when the thermal curtain fails.
73	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Almost invoked with Kathryn. When Andie needs to connect the new oxygen tank, she asks Rudy, the camper assigned as a system engineer which valve to use. When he makes a slight mistake, Kathryn gets fed up and grabs the manual from him, telling Andie to use a different valve. When Rudy insists that he's right, Andie uses his advice and they get their oxygen filled properly. As the others celebrate, Kathryn has a {{BSoD}}, realizing she almost blew up the shuttle.
74	* NewRulesAsThePlotDemands: No one seems to question Kevin for swapping his credentials with a Japanese kid just to get on the same team as Kathryn.
75	* NobodyPoops: {{Averted}}. Max has to figure out the shuttle's space toilet.
76	* NoOSHACompliance: NASA straps seven kids on the space shuttle unsupervised by a NASA employee, and seals the door. This is negligent even without being accidentally launched, no matter how good their grades at [=SpaceCamp=] were. It's handwaved in the film; when Zach is pinning up the announcement, he mentions the Camp trying to get permission to have campers in the test. After all, accidental launches only happen once in 4 billion years, right?
77	* OhCrap: When Jinx initiates the thermal curtain failure on one booster, everyone in Mission Control and the astronaut instructor on board the shuttle have a collective one. The situation's dire nature is punctuated by how Andie commands a launch while at least two of her campers on-board are openly panicking.
78	-->'''Andie:''' Ignite Booster A, [[PrecisionFStrike goddamnit]]! '''''LIGHT IT OR WE'RE GONNA EXPLODE!'''''
79	* ProductPlacement:
80	** Space Camp itself is real.
81	** Rudy mentions [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Big Macs]].
82	** Kevin mentions 7-Eleven, and drives a Jeep.
83	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The {{novelization}} of the film mentions the ''Challenger'' disaster during the launch incident.
84	* RecycledTrailerMusic: The main theme became stock trailer music for years afterward.
85	* RedWireBlueWire: A modified version, to connect the oxygen tank. They both look at the plans, and are sure that their blue hose is the only correct one. Perhaps they were both correct and the blue hoses are both for oxygen?
86	* ReedRichardsIsUseless: [=SpaceCamp=] has a sentient, AI robot which is capable of bypassing fail-safes to launch a shuttle, but NASA is still counting on the shuttle and mindless computers. Possibly justified: it's pointed out that Jinx is not used more prominently because he tends to make mistakes.
87	** Also given another reason in-story: Jinx's design is apparently lacking sufficient shielding to allow it to operate in space for more than two hours.
88	* RobotBuddy: Jinx acts like this for Max for roughly the first third of the film until it unwittingly rats Kevin and Kathryn out.
89	* SceneryPorn: The first couple of minutes after they reach orbit consists of the Blue Team, including Andie, taking some time to watch Earth beneath them (specifically Europe and northern Africa) as they approach their first on-orbit sunset. It acts as a good emotional buffer before the consequences followed, allowing them to tackle the task of getting back home from a more rational perspective.
90	-->'''Kathryn:''' I could lose the liftoff, but this is incredible!
91	* ShoutOut: Count all the ''Franchise/StarWars'' references.
92	* ShownTheirWork: The re-entry sequence has been praised as one of the most realistic depictions of the shuttle returning to earth ever filmed.
93	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: After the initial euphoria of orbital flight, Max says he wants to go home, and the questions start as the kids try to wrap their heads around exactly what happened.
94	* TapOnTheHead: [[spoiler: Andie.]] Actually handled relatively accurately. [[spoiler: She is heard wearily on the radio shortly after she was knocked out, suggesting she wasn't out for long. When she is rescued, she is treated for a shoulder injury, explaining why she couldn't assist in her own rescue.]]
95	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
96	** Kevin, upset that he was ratted out for his "date" with Kathryn, takes his frustration out on Max when he finds out Jinx did it, focusing on the kid's incessant ''Franchise/StarWars'' {{Fan Boy}}ism.
97	--->'''Kevin:''' You're just an ordinary kid, and so am I, and maybe nobody lives [[HappilyEverAfter happily ever after]]!
98	** Andie rips into the Blue Team when a mission simulation goes bad.
99	--->'''Andie:''' [[BigShutUp QUIET!]] I don't want to hear about it. I ''can't'' hear it. You know why? Because you're all dead.
100	* ThingsGetReal: That simulation Kevin and his team failed? They end up having to deal with a real situation very much like it in their actual flight.
101	* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: A disclaimer in the ending credits reads "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's cooperation and assistance does not reflect approval of the contents of this film or the treatment of the characters depicted therein." (i.e. "Don't assume NASA's people necessarily behave the way you saw some of them behaving in this movie; [[RuleOfDrama some of that was just written that way to keep the story interesting]].")
102	* TooDumbToLive: In context, anyway. Surely, Rudy--who was put in charge of "equipment function and operation"--would've figured out by then that the Shuttle's on-orbit propulsion system was not the same as the launch propulsion system before suggesting it as a source of oxygen.[[note]]The launch propulsion system uses liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer, fed by the external tank. The on-orbit propulsion system, the oft-mentioned Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS), uses hydrazine fuel and (di)nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer.[[/note]] Possibly justified by the severity of the situation, as he may have been simply thinking out loud.
103	-->'''Rudy:''' What about the propulsion system? We could breathe the liquid oxygen from there.\
104	'''Tish:''' The propulsion system uses nitrogen tetroxide, Rudy. We wanna breathe, not dry clean our lungs.
105	* UnusualEuphemism: From Kevin to Andie.
106	-->'''Kevin:''' Hey! Great boosters!
107	* VirtualAssistantBlunder: The robot Jinx takes what it hears literally. After hearing Max say "I wish I could go to space", it interprets this as a command and hacks the space shuttle while Max is aboard so it will initiate takeoff.
108	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: So what exactly happened to Hideo Takamini, the camper whose place on the Blue Team was usurped by Kevin? He's never seen again after Kevin swipes his badge and is never mentioned after the confusion at the first roll call.
109	* YouWouldntBelieveMeIfIToldYou: When Ray is complaining to Zach, asking what to tell the press (who saw the unannounced launch just like everyone else within range), Zach recommends something like a SarcasticConfession without the sarcasm (since the whole situation sounds crazy enough without any).
110	-->'''Brennan:''' How am I supposed to keep a lid on this? People for 500 miles know the shuttle went up!\
111	'''Zach:''' Tell 'em the truth: we launched my wife and five kids from the Space Camp. They'll never believe it.

Context Film / SpaceCamp