We're cocooned in marshmallow today in northern Utah. The sky is white and heavy. Its raining. I look at that as a blessing. Let it snow in the mountains and rain in the valleys. That is my definition of a perfect winter.
The Space Center officially closed for Christmas Vacation yesterday at 5:15 P.M. Jon Parker's voice was the last heard over one of our five microphones. His Voyager crew arrived 15 minutes late so, being full of Christmas cheer, Jon extended their mission an additional 15 minutes. We're like that at the Space Center. We bend backwards for our visitors, even at our own cost. We've a reputation to uphold. So, what happens at the Center over the next two weeks?
- Maintenance comes first. Kyle has returned from BYU Idaho to spend one week doing maintenance projects in the ships.
- I'll meet with the Flight and Set Directors to map out our summer camp schedule.
- Summer missions will also be on our agenda.
- Voyager Controls is something else I'll be working on with assistance from Emily and Jon. Our programmers are finishing up our new Cocoa controls for the Galileo. The Voyager is next.
Yesterday I made the decision not to convert the Voyager to iPads. We met for a couple hours with our Programming Guild listening to the pros and cons. In the end the cards weren't there for an all iPad ship. We will forge ahead with a new set of controls based on the Guild's Mercury Server. I want to thank Tod Hadley for attending. His input was valuable.
One good thing to come from the meeting is my desire to use iPads throughout the simulator for special activities and projects. The 2011 Voyager will be quite the ship when we finish with it.
In closing, I'd like to show you the pictures I took of the staff and volunteers that worked the last mission of the old Magellan before it was torn apart and the new Magellan built. The day after these pictures were taken construction on the new set began. A few months later, the new Magellan opened for the summer season.
Please forgive the photograph's resolution. They were taken with the Space Center's first digital camera. The faces are fuzzy but our old timers will recognized the staff and volunteers that worked that last mission.
Jackson Miller (Center)One of the volunteers you'll see in these pictures passed away with cancer two years ago. Jackson loved the Space Center, and in his memory, his family sponsors a special yearly Space Center field trip for the Rowland Hall 5th graders.
Jackson was an awesome kid who worked whenever he could while he suffered through his cancer treatments. He worked his last mission about six months before he died. All his hair was gone, but his spirits were high.
Jackson, and the millions of people like him around the world, who face and fight deadly diseases are my true heroes.
And now, the Old Magellan's Last Mission....
For a quick chuckle, take a moment and go to the link below and watch this short Christmas video I posted on my Cloverdale Blog (The Village I created populated with the kind of people I understand). I think it would be cool if we made a video like this to advertise the Space Center - you know - old school. What do you think?
http://ourcloverdale.blogspot.com
Have a Great Weekend!
Mr. W.
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