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Last Week's Vanguard Concept

Farpoint's Vanguard Simulator Design Update

     The Troubadour is your Space EdVentures news source.  
     We were back at it this morning, straining and stretching our imaginations as we imagineered Farpoint and Renaissance Academy's first starship simulator, the Vanguard.  Mark Daymont, Kyle Herring and I spent the morning looking over Kyle's preliminary blueprints of last week's proposals.

The Vanguard from last week's discussions

     Kyle had an idea of his own this week. 

Kyle's dream of an ideal bridge - a bridge in the round.

      I really liked the idea, but the drawing was missing the behind the bridge hallway (for access to the bridge through multiple hatches - you know - the scare factor).  The round bridge concept was shelved when we discovered the additional hallway wouldn't provide enough room for the perfect circular shape of the bridge in the existing space.  

      It was back to square one.  The chairs were brought out and arranged, then rearranged, into various bridge configurations in search for that perfect design we've tried to achieve with every ship built over the last 23 years.  There is a long learning curve when it comes to designing a starship simulator.
     The design in the photo above has a Magellan look, with a set of steps (the white tables) going up from the lower bridge (Command) to the work stations on two different levels.  

     After making several laps around the Version 5 Vanguard, we went back to Kyle's bridge in the round concept.  A vision of hybrid Star Wars / Battlestar Galactic bridge come to mind.  The chairs were stacked and put out again making Version 6 Vanguard.

Vanguard, Version 6

      In the photo above we see the command touch screen table surrounded by 4 chairs making the lower section of the bridge.  I'm planning ahead for the day when full table top computers become cheap enough to use in a simulator.

   
     The chairs to the left and the four straight ahead would be on raised platforms with a set of steps between them.  The pattern of steps and stations would be repeated on the right side of the room.

     The Vanguard will have 26 computer stations for when it will be used as a Renaissance Academy computer lab during the school day.  After school and weekends, the Vanguard will hold 10 - 14 crew members - again, very similar to the Magellan.
     Kyle's computer was set up and ready to go.  Kyle began putting our ideas to paper.

      Will the Version 6 Vanguard be the last - the one you'll see when you come to Farpoint for a mission?  I can make no promises, but what I'm going to insist upon is my long dreamt of 'Workbee'.
     Look at the photo above.  The "CR" stands for Control Room.  See the capsule in the small closet room to the right?  That capsule is ..... Shhhhhhhh...... keep it a secret....... my Workbee.  I believe it will be THE favorite part of the Vanguard.
     A kind of "Workbee" was used years ago at the Space Center.  The campers loved it.
     This new Workbee will make our Vanguard unique among its sister ships.

Science Technology Engineering Arts Math
The Core of the Farpoint Cadet Program

The TEK Robotic Mobilization Device is a machine developed to replace the wheelchair. In this demonstration video, we see a man with a severe injury to his spinal cord able to move about in ways that a wheelchair would make very difficult.

What Would the Perfect Planet be Like?  Not Earth.

From Io9
When it comes to habitability, Earth may not provide the best example. Indeed, astrobiologists are saying we should look for planets that are more hospitable to life than ours — a new class of objects they're calling superhabitable worlds. They even know where we should look.  Read More


The Imaginarium
Always look for ways to make the ordinary, extraordinary

Had to put this in.  Apparently this guy recently brought this into a computer shop for repair.
The Voyager opened using computers like the one above for its bridge stations.