My job has always been to cover all space center news be it the Voyager Club, or the CMSEC, or InfiniD, or Discovery Space Center, or news from our good friends at DreamFlight Adventures. If it's simulator based, experiential education initially inspired by the first simulator of many, the USS Voyager, The Troubadour cover's it.
My daily routine is pretty much the same. I'm up, shower, shave, deodorize, accessorize, breakfastize, and out the door. Yes, I do dress, but that word doesn't add to the natural flow of the previous sentence so I leave it out. I assume you know I wouldn't walk out the door in my Star Wars pj's. Unprofessional? Yes. A real head turner? Yes Yes.
I catch the Wonderland subway for the always entertaining trip into town; exiting at the Troubadour stop. From there it's a short walk to The Troubadour's world headquarters. The easily confused have been known to wander until dark so let me give directions. From the station it's two turns left, followed by a hop, skip, and jump. Turn right at the old cheese shop (a wonderfully aromatic, post Tudor establishment under the proprietorship of a Miss Airydale Woodbead Nigh. Airydale always greets her customers with an inviting smile framing a set of well used teeth of a pleasing English cheddar hue.
Walk with purpose until the first thought of being lost enters your mind and you're there.
You see, easily done.
Being anchored to headquarters as it were, I'm not able to get out to bring our readers interesting news from our scores of Voyager cadets. Cadets who will spend the next two and a half months either sitting at home bored, or traveling to interesting places both nationally and internationally. That is where YOU come in.
Please consider taking an appointment as Troubadour Correspondent on Special Assignment (TCSA). There is no pay, leaving you free to report what you see and what you're doing without worry of pleasing anyone but yourself. Contact me if you're going on an interesting vacation and would like TCSA press credentials. Check with your parents (if under 18) for their permission to send stories and pictures, then file your stories for publication.
Now I'll get back to work. I've got other stories to write and a delightful blue Stilton with crackers tempting my palate.
Mr. W.
Voyager Cadet Affan Travels to Pakistan
Please enjoy the following report from our first TCSA report at large. Affan is a member of the Voyager Club with allegiance to the Cobra LDM Squadron. He's on a month's vacation to his family's homeland - Pakistan. He'll be filing regular reports on his travels.
The first if below.
Hello, my name is Affan.
You will be joining me on my experiences. Have fun
This week we landed in Dubai. On the first day we slept, who wouldn't after a 14 hour plane ride through the North Pole. Yea I went to the North Pole. Anyways, after we slept, we went to the mall and we found candy store after candy store.
After we ate some candy (Jonah you Jelly(prepare for puns)) we went to the line to get into Burj Khalifa. This is when I become king of the voyager club and kicking Mr. Williamson out of the admiral's chair. We got our tickets and we want to the top at 90 feet per second (fastest elevator too).
Later that night, Dubai greeted us with fireworks. I don't have a picture of that so take emojis.🎆😋
There was an entire store devoted to VR headsets so I threw in a pic of that too.
Space and Science News
By Mark Daymont
Spacerubble.blogspot.com
50 Years Ago: Surveyor 1 Lands Safely on Moon
NASA finally did it, fifty years ago. On June 2, 1966, the Surveyor 1 lunar probe fired its retrorockets and descended down to the lunar surface after a 63.5 hour flight time from Earth. For this mission, science instruments were left off and focus was given to the important photographic and television equipment.
Liftoff on May 30, 1966.
The flight began on May 30th from the LC-36A platform at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Propulsion was of course the venerable Atlas rocket with a Centaur second stage to take Surveyor to the Moon. This was a straight flight, there was no plan to orbit first and then land. The retrorockets slowed the vehicle down to a low altitude of about 11 feet above the surface and it dropped down onto the lunar soil. It was a little over 4 months since the Soviets had safely landed Luna 9, and this was the first success for NASA to land anywhere off the Earth.
Transmitted image of one of Surveyor's landing pads in the lunar soil.
Television transmitted images continued through July 14. Over 11,000 pictures were taken and sent back to Earth. Although no science experiments were aboard, engineering sensors relayed information about the condition of the probe and condition of the lunar surface.
50 YA: Gemini IX Premission Glitch
Fifty years ago, NASA tried a second time to start the Gemini IX mission. Earlier in May 17, 1966, the mission was scrubbed when the Atlas-Agena target vehicle mission failed by a malfunction in the Atlas rocket and the inability of the ATV to reach orbit. Astronauts Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan were supposed to launch hours later, but the mission was postponed.
Now on June 1st, a backup Atlas rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral. It's payload was the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDP), a variation of the ATV. The Agena rocket section was replaced with the re-entry control section of a Gemini Capsule, so it was a bit shorter than the typical Agena Target Vehicle. Flight planners determined that the ATDP would function just fine for the objectives of the mission, and after launch, the ATDP was determined to have successfully entered a 161-mile high orbit. Unfortunately, sensors indicated that the aerodynamic shroud over the ATDP had not jettisoned properly.
It was decided to proceed with the Gemini IX launch, and that during the expected EVA Cernan would try to release the shroud. Preparations then continued with preparing the Gemini Titan for launch on the 3rd.
The Imaginarium
The Ins and Outs of the President's Limo
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