The Troubadour: Mia Love Visits Discovery Space Center. Super Saturday at the Space Center. Superstar Flight Director Bracken Funk Thrills Staff and Campers Alike. And Saturday Night at the Imaginarium

Hello Troops,

Saturdays are typically the busiest days of the week for Utah Valley's two space centers. Today was no exception. For me, it started last night. I chaperoned for the Discovery Space Center's second overnight camp for November. We had twenty campers, all of them in their teens. They were awesome, not a peep all night long. After chaperoning came the 9:00 A.M. advanced programming class at Renaissance. My job is to open the school's door. Brent Anderson does the heavy mental lifting while I work in my classroom.

I had an appointment with my eye doctor this morning and ordered a new pair of bifocals after successfully scoring 20/15 vision in each eye after enduring several minutes of listening to the doctor repeat over and over "better this one....... or this one.....". The optician and I went the rounds as she helped me choose a new pair of frames. I preferred the cheaper "grandpa" frames (her words) while she insisted I buy a pair of more expensive frames to modernize my face. "How can a pair of Nike frames remove 20 years of dust and mold from this sagging portrait of over ripe fruit?" I asked. After several minutes of back and forth, we finally compromised on a pair of glasses that shouted "middle aged school teacher".

I stopped by both space centers on my way home to collect the news for our Troubadour readers.

Mia Love Captains the DSC's Columbia Simulator

Mia Love, mayor of Saratoga Springs, and her family flew the Columbia simulator at the Discovery Space Center today. Casey Voeks was the flight director. A shortened version was Shadows was the mission. She reportedly had a great time even though the Shadow got her in the end.

Mia Love with family and friends

Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center's Super Saturday

The Space Center hosted Timberline Middle School for a Super Saturday today. The mission was staffed with several Farpoint Cadets pictured below enjoying their lunch in the Discovery Room. Our Farpoint Cadets are awesome, friendly, courteous, kind, cheerful, mostly clean and always reverent.

Superstar flight director Bracken Funk helped out on today's Super Saturday. He, his wife and daughter are in Utah for a few weeks. Bracken plays basketball for BYU Hawaii. He blew his knee out in a game a few weeks ago and is in Utah for surgery. We wish him well.

Bracken, Andrew and Connor on the Magellan Bridge working out a long standing disagreement
on the finer points of flight directing.

Rising Superstar Connor L. in the Magellan Control Room. He is slowly making the Magellan his,
one computer at a time. "Today the Magellan, tomorrow the Space Center," one of our Farpoint Cadet's overheard him saying to his picture on one of the control room computers.

Bracken sitting in the flight director's chair. This upset Connor to the point where
he challenged Bracken to a duel. The two will meet early tomorrow morning
on the school's back playground. Dueling phasers are the weapons of choice.

Bracken with Space Center Director, Megan Warner.
"You're not getting my job," Megan mumbled beneath her smile.
"Oh yah? Just watch me," Bracken mumbled back