Hello Troops,
There was a gathering of great minds yesterday in my classroom at Renaissance Academy. The Vanguard was the topic of our discussion. The USS Vanguard will be Farpoint's first simulator; a masterpiece of imagination, ingenuity, forward thinking, inspiration, and bullheaded determination.
We reviewed the first draft of the Vanguard's plans drawn up and imagineered by Alex DeBirk, world-renowned designer of starship simulators and all around great guy. Alex took the basic design from the previous week, ran the numbers, and in the gentlest way possible, told us we were up far out in left field when it came to allocating enough space for each station. He corrected the errors, and added a few of his own ideas to improve upon the plan. The results are below:
Your input would be appreciated. What do you think? What do you suggest? I value your opinion because I know that all of you Troubadours out there love the program we created at the CMSEC or you wouldn't be reading this blog, right?
Remember, this is the dream Vanguard. Our budget, and other factors, may put our imaginations on a strict diet, but until we're told otherwise, this is the Vanguard - minus additional input from our imagineers and Troubadours.
Farpoint's Vanguard
1. 26 computer stations so it can be used as a Renaissance Academy computer lab
when necessary. Think Magellan and you've got it. I believe simulator /
computer lab hybrids are the future for school simulators. The Vanguard and
Magellan will be the poster children for this cost saving method of bringing Space
EdVenture simulations to children nationwide.
2. The Vanguard will have a sick bay, brig, and engineering bay complete with
Jeffery's Tube and my dream - a WorkBee.
3. The Vanguard will have a large Briefing Room able to hold 26 people. The
Briefing Room will be a good place for parents to wait for their young astronauts.
4. The Vanguard will have a three projector display system for its main viewer. This
will be a favorite for you old Voyager fans.
Remember, this is the dream Vanguard. What we build this spring and summer may
be somewhat different based on the money on hand and the money we raise through fund raisers.
The Vanguard will be YOUR ship. It will tell the Space Center's old stories the way they were originally told. It will have new missions varying in length from a couple of hours to several months long. It will be staffed the many of the people you grew to like and admire at the Space Center and new people who are currently learning the ropes in our Farpoint Cadet Club (farpointstation.org).
Fund raising will be the key to building this dream ship. So don't be surprised when I ask for help on this one. The Vanguard will be our community simulator; built, staffed and maintained by the people who loved the Voyager and grew up during the Space Center's golden age. It will continue the founding Space EdVentures principles of a curriculum based simulator telling thrilling missions using music, drama and old fashioned story telling at its finest.
Mr. Williamson
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| Mark Daymont and David Kyle Herring with his little sidekick at our Saturday think tank. |
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| Mark Ursic, Renaissance Academy Director, reviewing the Vanguard's plans. |
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| The London Room. My 6th Grade Classroom at Renaissance |
A Good Reminder as you Navigate Life
Space and Science News
If you were to be unlucky enough to be just about a thousand miles from a magnetar, the magnetic force would warp the atoms in your body and the gravitational forces would literally tear you apart. A magnetar just 100,000 miles away from the earth would wipe out all the data in every credit card in the world. Fortunately for us, magnetars are very, very rare. It is hypothesized that out of every ten supernovae, one becomes a magnetar. So far we have only been able to detect sixteen of these fascinating objects and with the help of the Chandra X-ray Telescope, astronomers are on the path to unlocking the secrets of these strange phenomenons and guide us deeper into the understandings of our universe in all its (incredible) weirdness. Read More
Planetary science is beginning to catch up with science
fiction
Planetary science is beginning to catch up with science fiction. Since the launch of the Kepler space telescope in 2009, the oddball, exotic worlds in our universe have making their way to the forefront. See the most interesting at Quarks to Quasars.Home to the Only Life Known in the Universe. How Small and Fragile.
This picture, reminiscent of the famous ‘pale blue dot’ image captured by Voyager 1, shows our small, fragile world drifting through the vastness of space with its companion. MESSENGER, while exploring the region of space between the Earth and the Sun, turned its camera towards our special dot and sent back this snapshot of reality. For reference, the average Earth-Sun distance is about 93-million miles (150-million kilometers).
This image was taken in May of 2010. Using that fact, everyone reading this post today can be found somewhere on that little spec, along with everyone you currently know (assuming they are at least 3), living out their normal day-to-day life. Can you see yourself?
The Imaginarium. Be Daring - Think Imagination
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Can we get the actual .pdf file for the design? I would be nice to have a solid, unmarked copy of i to read
ReplyDeleteIf there will only be 12 stations, why does the briefing room need to hold 26?
ReplyDeleteI know the computer lab is intended for 26 people, but the students wouldn't need a "briefing room" to get their schoolwork done, would they?
If you decreased the size of the briefing room from 26 people to 15-ish people you could free up room for some other stuff.
And tell us what the WorkBee is already!
I LOVE the Work Bee idea. I have always thought of how cool it would be to have a pod. What would is it going to be for though? What crew positions will ge to use it?
ReplyDeleteWith the sickbay, will there be a crew member the doctor or is it just for a staff doctor. I remember in the Voyager I got to use the sickbay as a doctor on a super-overnight. I loved being a doctor crew member!!!
It would be great to find a way to work some bunks into the ship if at all possible.
ReplyDeleteMy only request is a sort of miniature transporter between the control room and the bridge; this could be used to transport phasers or other small objects onto the bridge.
ReplyDeleteAnother idea (most likely out of our budget however, and will probably be better in a different simulator) would be a smaller ship connected to the larger ship, as many are. However, this will actually be accessible to the crew, and would hold 2-3. This would be primarily used for side stories, though a mission could focus a battle on it. As complicated and expensive as it seems (as well of the complexity of attempting to run two ships at once), I think it would be a great use of our resources.