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Imagination lets us see a time beyond our horizon

Hello Troops,
Happy Wednesday and Independence Day Eve.

What do you think of the picture above? Looking at it makes me wish my birthday was June 24, 2213 instead of 1958, but fate decided otherwise and here I am.

Those of us living today have a responsibility to those who come after us. We have an obligation to open the universe to them so they can do what we only dream of doing today - flying to distant stars on majestic starships.

We stitch the future together with our actions and decisions; so let us make the right decisions today. Let us strengthen the economy. Let us get our nation's debt under control. Let us invest in science, technology and medicine. Let us establish a human presence on the Moon and Mars. Let us begin doing great things with a vision outward and a selfless attitude toward our resources. The future holds promise for everyone if you contribute to this great society. Make good decisions. Be responsible for those decision and use your resources for the common good.

Morgan Mitchell, Justin Meiners and Victor Yu are examples of Space Center staff and volunteers who are making a difference. They are visionaries who use their talents to ensure a bright future for all.

I asked Morgan to write the following email for the blog. Please take a minute to read it and celebrate their accomplishments with me.

Mr. W.

Hi Everyone!

Mr. Williamson asked me to write a post about this weekend's events in Anaheim, California. This past weekend a couple of Space Center kids were invited to attend the National Leadership Conference for Future Buisness Leaders of America. It was a blast being half a mile from Disneyland, driving to the beach, and attempting to fit in pools and elevators with 8,000 other high school students in the same location.

To be invited to the Conference you must place first or second in your event at the state level (which was back in March). Among those of us in attendance were as follows:

Victor Yu

Victor just graduated high school (Orem) and has been a Space Center volunteer for a few years. Victor is heading to college in the fall. He plans to major in something technology/science related. Victor placed 9th (in the nation) in his event; Computer Applications.

Justin Meiners

Justin also just graduated from high school (Mountain View) and is a part of the Space Center's programming guild. He will be going on a mission this fall to Northern California. When he returns he will be attending school at Utah State studying Computer Engineering. Justin was a finalist for his event (top 15 in the nation); Desktop Application Programming.

Morgan N. Mitchell

I am not going to write this in third person because that would be weird….

I just graduated from Park City High School and I will be headed to Massachusetts in the fall to study Aerospace Engineering (and Robotics) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I have been a Space Center volunteer throughout high school braving the hour drive from my house (each direction). I competed in the Job Interview event and I was honored to be named 1st place (in the nation).

These results show just how important the Space Center is. Only a few students from Utah even placed at Nationals, almost half of which were us CMSEC kids. Also looking back at Sterling Scholar earlier in the year: the vast majority of Computer Technology finalists (winners and runner-ups) were CMSEC kids. Mr. Williamson has made a change in the world. He has helped so many of us try new things and find out who we truly are in the process. Thank you Mr. W.

FBLA is a high school club that I would recommend everyone should get involved in if you can. There are lots of different events including: speaking events, team events, written/multiple choice tests, presentations, etc…. It is all encompassing of the business world so you can do anything from a technology related event, to a community service project, to a school subject test (like economics or math), and the list goes on and on.

If you are interested in checking out more information about FBLA here is the website:

http://www.fbla-pbl.org

The video of the awards ceremony is also online and a list of the winners. They are both in alphabetical order of event names:

http://pdcproductions.com/fbla/

http://www.fbla-pbl.org/fbla.asp?landingpage=2013competitiveevents

I have also attached some pictures of the weekend.

Thanks for all of your support!

- Morgan

Space and Science News

In Saturn's Rings

South African filmmaker Stephen van Vuuren is currently working on an IMAX production called In Saturn's Rings in which he's stitched, processed, and animated over a million images to give viewers a remarkable sense of motion and full immersion. The result can only be described as spectacular.

This is Beyond Cool. Take a 3D Tour of the Nearest 100,000 Stars

If you have ever thought about space and wished you could travel to, say, the nearest 100,000 stars, this is for you. It’s an interactive 3D visualization of our stellar neighborhood, with our sun in the middle. You can click on a star to get a close-up of it (with amazing graphics and detail) and a quick description of the star. You can click on the “Take a Tour" button and be guided through a quick trip through space which starts at our Sun, and ends at the edge of our galaxy, the Milky Way. You may also toggle a spectral index, allowing you to get a visualization of how hot the stars are! Here is a screenshot of our Sun I took on my virtual trip through the cosmos:

Travel Our Stellar Neighborhood (in 3D!)
http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/