Hello Troops,Last week I answered a long distance call from a gentleman in Seattle. He introduced himself as the proud new owner of the old Galileo. I was surprised, not knowing the Galileo was back on State auction. It appears all the bidders on the original auction backed out after discovering the simulator needed to be dismantled for shipping. Oh, the astronomical shipping costs acting as a deterrent as well.
“So, how does this Space Shuttle work,” he asked. His voice was pleasant, the kind that usually belongs to a likable, fun loving person. He was driving while on the phone. I could tell he wanted the condensed explanation. I didn’t know where to begin. How do you explain what we do in 30 seconds or less?
“First, let me explain that it is not a shuttle. It is more like a Star Trek shuttlecraft,” I started what ended up being a monologue that dragged on for several minutes. He urged me to speed it up; I ignored the hints and continued to quote from my memorized and well rehearsed one man show called Flight Directing for Dummies. He seemed to be getting it.
“Are you a Star Trek fan?” I questioned. He answered enthusiastically in the positive. Finding that common ground led to several more minutes of explanation.
“May I ask what you’re going to do with the Galileo?” I asked at the end.
If I heard this gentleman right, the Galileo will be placed inside a bus and used for parties and events. His company provides safe transport home from bars and nightclubs for those that ‘had one too many’. Their buses offer entertainment to the sauced passenger as they travel home. It could be a baseball game, or football, or whatever. The interior of the bus in a set, or lounge or whatever.He says its a fun and profitable business.
This bus is a mobile disco, complete with dance floor.'The Galileo will be put in a bus and offered as a fun party or transportation alternative. Parents can rent the bus for a birthday party. The kids board the Galileo (inside the bus) for a ride around town while they run their mission. Adults could rend the bus for a fun simulation while going home from a night on the town or as a fun thing to do as they travel to some event (for instance, renting the bus to take you and your friends to another town to attend a football game etc).
This is the link for the company if you'd like to know more about the Galileo's final resting place.
http://partybus.homestead.com/
There you have it Troops. The old Galileo has a new owner and will be leaving Pleasant Grove for Seattle shortly to entertain in a whole different way.
Will you miss the old girl? As a proper send off, you are welcome to write your favorite memory of your time in the Galileo. I'd like to read what you say. Use the comment link at the bottom of this post so others can read what you have to say.
What do you think?
Mr. Williamson
17 comments:
I will definitely miss the Galileo. I don't know if I could pick just one favorite memory, but I remember in sixth grade we were supposed to tell our teacher what job we wanted for our mission and I was so set on being captain that I wrote a resume and gathered signatures from everyone in the class, several teachers, and the principal vouching for what a good captain I would be. I ended up getting the job and commanded the Galileo. :3
Another time I got to go on the Galileo for the Lehi Library summer reading contest, and a little boy on the ship was crying when aliens were knocking on the ship because he thought it was real. It was so sad! But I can still remember when I first stepped onto the Voyager and was entirely convinced that I'd just been beamed into the future of space...
Ooh and I remember doing an away mission where we got to sneak into the cafeteria and bring a cloaking device back! That was so fun. We were almost spotted. :D
I do have to say, I was kind of horrified when I found out you guys were auctioning off part of my childhood. I'm eager to try out the new Galileo though. I hope everyone who rides that bus realizes how lucky they are to have such an amazing little simulator.
The Galileo will always hold a very special place in my heart. The Galileo was the first ship I was in, and the only ship I've lost a mission in (though it's not the happiest memory, it's still there).
To sum up my little spiel here, my happiest, or funniest time would have to be the second time I was in the Galileo...
We had booked the Galileo for my birthday. Sitting in the captains' chair I'd just initiated the self destruct mechanism. My mom sat as my 1st officer, my brother as navigation. While the main computer counted down the last seconds of our 'lives' they attempted to lighten the mood. "What do we do now?" began my mom "WE DIE!" my brother finished with her. My two friends and I erupted into laughter, and we met the darkness of death time closer than ever.
Of course after dieing, we had to convince our flight director exactly why we self destructed, and why that should make us win. Eventually we won the debate and I had my first taste of victory.
I will never forget the Galileo Mark 5; though it may be far away, it will always remain close to our hearts and memories.
sad to see the galileo go. I think I'll always remember how we were doing this mission where we stole a cloaking device from a romulan base. and right before we were going to go and steal the device, we were just like, "Um, Stacy.... I've gotta go to the bathroom." so we had possibly the most epic bathroom break EVER and ran back and did our away mission. It was really fun. I also remember when we did the super 17 mission and we used the galileo and crwled around in the tunnels. that was quite memorable.
but a party bus for drunk people?! Really? I thought it would have ended up somewhere a little better than that.
I will miss the Galileo I remember on a mission where at the end of the mission we had 3% hull integrity because we were attacked by the romulans. The people on the bus will be so lucky. I was honored to be the captain of the ship once and fix it another time. Goodbye Galileo.
The Galileo has a special place in my heart. It was the first ship I ever volunteered in. I will never forget that mission, or this ship. R.I.P.
My most memorable Galileo moment was when I accidentally smacked it into one of the support pillars in the lunchroom. Luckily it wasn't moving very fast and it was only a glancing blow.
Oh...and running it with Kyle a few times back when it was at Sunset View elementary in Provo - it was known as the Questar back then. We tried really hard to replicate the Space Center experience.
I only worked the galileo twice in my year of space center and I was wondering, Is my blood stain still there on the floor?
@Josh We eventually did mostly get out the bloodstain from the carpet. So I guess that is what you expect when we make you look like you have been through a meat grinder. Definitely worth it though :)
I'll miss the rumble and whirling sounds as it started up and we were in the lunchroom with school kids. The kids would giggle and clap their hands and then point as the Galileo would jiggle around inside the plastic white chain safety zone.
I hope she has a whole new set of advantures in her new life.
Wow... quite the unexpected final resting place. I wonder how they will direct flights... it seems like the true experience that the Galileo enables will be impossible to replicate in that environment. But who knows? Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.
How much did the ol' Galileo end up going for on the auction block?
I remember crashing it as soon as the mission started because the galileo was in the lower bay.
I love the Galileo, even though I have never even been on it. But when my mom came after an overnight camp and decided to take a tour, I loved showing her the "tiny little ship" as she called it. She said, "Awww, it's cute!" to which my little brother responded, disgustedly, "It's a space ship. It blows up things. Not cute."
I'm one of the current Flight Directors of the Phoenix.
I went on the Galileo many times throughout my years as a camper coming very regularly to overnighters and a few supers and once more when I became a staff member.
The one time I went on the Galileo as a staff member was when I was with my family and grandparents. We did "Maximus" and ultimately didn't finish the mission. Instead we went into what I remember being a nebula where a B'Rel class Klingon Bird of Prey came out of nowhere and hit us with a volley of class-VI disrupter fire. We were "dead" after the first pass.
The memory in this was more for the grandparents that came along and was the point of the whole trip. I wanted to show them what one of the potential faces of humanities technological space faring future looked like and, yes, have a fun Monday night.
Personally, I will remember the Galileo as, like its Predecessor, the one ship that truly felt like it was moving via means that are "Classified", the one ship that has taken both myself and countless other youngsters - both in the now and the then - into the stars on team-oriented Edventures to inspire, uplift, and teach young minds using the discipline of wonder. And for being hands down one of the coolest ships in the center!
It will be sad to see the old Galileo go after so many years of successful, exciting missions and stories, many of which I have had the opportunity to experience. But a new and improved shuttlecraft awaits now in the Shuttlebay to continue what it started, and it brings with it a future with many more exciting Edventures to come.
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Ah the Galileo. It was commissioned way back when I was volunteering there. I'll admit pushing that thing around the cafeteria was my favorite part about working it.
I'll also remember how its "Death Music" often varied greatly from the Enya of the Voyager way back with Mr. B. I feel like I just aged myself a little bit...
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