Galileo Mystery Solved. Should All Flight Directors be Required to Pass a Psychological Exam. Evidence that Crews May be at Risk.

Three Seconds Before Panic Set In

      Let's be honest, any news involving the USS Galileo at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center in Pleasant Grove is welcome. This little simulator, once the brunt of many jokes told by the pre-remodel old time staff late into the night during the overnight missions, sits forlorn and lonely several paces away from the cluster of other simulators inside Central School.  To even find it, one must turn left inside of the normal right upon entering the school. 

     Bread is kept in the front lobby for Galileo crew use. A sign reads "The Galileo can be hard to find so please leave a trail of breadcrumbs as you embark on your trek through the hallways looking for this illusive ship hidden deep within the forest of upright tables and discarded cardboard boxes - the remains of field trip lunch containers.  If you get lost, follows the crumbs back to the lobby and wait for a guide - recognizable by his or her flashlight, pistol, rope, field glasses, and hardhat.

      Last Saturday I easily found the Galileo, not because I know Central School inside and out after spending 34 years wandering its halls and sleeping on its floors.  The ship was found in seconds by following the shrieks of the Space Center staff.  

     Apparently someone had walked away with the Galileo's Control Area.  
     "What shall we do?" Ian wailed.  
     "Think of poor Erin. She can't direct a mission without a control room," Lindsey sobbed.
     Mason, our resident Time Lord, was no help in solving the mystery. He was as perplexed as the rest; although he did offer to zip to the past to see the disappearance in person.  Tyler's hand went straight to his forehead, something he does when stressed, which makes flight directing particularly difficult because once there, the hand stays until he calms down or takes one of his pills.  Odyssey Set Director Natalie's expression was easily seen through by someone who recognizes a fraud from a mile away.  It was my opinion that she, along with her sidekick Orion (struggling to keep a smile at bay), were guilty of the crime. Get rid of a control room, you shut down a ship. The Odyssey and Galileo have always been bitter rivals for crew affection.  I believed Natalie had had enough and took matters into her own hands.  
     Tyler interrupted just as I was vocalizing my accusation.  "Here it is!"

     Apparently someone, most likely the Space Center Director himself, aka Mr. James Porter, moved the control area to the side of the ship.  A brilliant move if you think about it.  The new control area is more secluded from the rest of the cafeteria - making it easier to flight direct field trips during the school's lunch hour.  The move also has something to do with the Galileo's new video system. There are other reasons that I won't bore you with. Let's just say it is something I should have thought of during my reign of terror.     

     Unbeknownst to us, Time Lord Mason slipped away, jumped into his Tardis, ventured into the past and watched Mr. Porter make the move. Security footage from a few days earlier clearly shows him spying on the move and reassembly.  

     Suddenly he reappeared.  "It was Mr. Porter who moved the control area," he reported nearly out of breath from the run through the halls.  
     "We know, we figured it out," the staff answered in eerie unison.  
     "Well that was a wasted trip," he replied feeling quite underappreciated.  "You know, I could jump back to just after the big bang and tinker with a few globs of matter and it's goodbye to the lot of you." He snapped his fingers to drive the point home.  
      "Hold your thrusters, we've got another mystery." Orion stood in the Galileo's entrance pointing to the walls. "There's two beds missing."  

     That little mystery was quickly solved with a glance in the hallway.

     The two missing beds along with part of the control room were waiting to be carted off by the district.  With the beds gone, crews had more room for working.  
     The Galileo, always a work in progress.  

Mr. Williamson

Should All Flight Directors be Required to Pass a Psychological Exam? Evidence that Crews May be at Risk.   

     I hesitate to bring up this topic in polite society, but there are times I question the sanity of flight directors everywhere, not just at the Space Center.  Recently I found something quite disturbing which leads me to believe the answer to that questions is YES!

     If you look closely under the Magellan flight director's screen you'll see a rock.

     A close up of said rock reveals a face with a red bow. Why such a thing is there - set directly in the flight director's view, is another mystery requiring an answer.  
     While being sure the Magellan's expertly trained flight directors are functioning with marbles intact, we see no harm in suggesting a mental health screening for all flight directors systemwide to explore a possible correlation between mission stress and mental illness.  Don't we owe it to them after all the enjoyment they've given us over the years?    

The Troubadour Staff

The Imaginarium