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| The Command Station on the Voyager I 2012 |
Requiem for Our Long Departed Command Chairs
Requiem aeternam dona eis, et lux perpetua luceat.
Utilius est illi operam salutarem pacem cognoscere terram et homines loci qui nos de tenebris male.
Ite modo in lucem.
Amen
Today we celebrate the lives and times of two Captain's Chairs recently retired from active Starfleet service at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center.
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| The Recently Retired Magellan Captain's Chair |
Salute the Magellan's retired Captain's chair. It was a fine command chair in its day; once sure in its mission, now tired with a sloped seat and missing arm. Think of the action this chair has witnessed. Think of the many captains who relied on this seat of power.
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| The Chair of the Old Galileo's Captain |
This is my chair, my seat of power
my presidency, ministry, ivory tower.
This is my chair from whence I command;
Scream my orders, dictate, demand.
This is my chair from where I rule,
I am sovereign; you are fool.
Mark Raymond Slaughter
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| A Long Departed Odyssey Command Chair |
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| Another Magellan Captain's Chair from 11 years ago, now long gone and far from memory...... |
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| A Captain grows fond of his command chair. It is his symbol of power and authority. Take his chair and you've striped him of his confidence in his decisions and the respect of his crew. The command chair also provides an excellent shield from incoming phaser blasts from unwanted Orion Pirates and other space scum. |
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| The new Magellan Captain's Chair, Built for Extreme abuse |
Welcome the new Magellan Captain's Chair, fresh from Starfleet's supplier and guaranteed to provide a year or two of uninterrupted and reliable service. Notice the metal arms; no loose strings and stitches to unravel with this chair. It is the kind of chair any captain would take great pride in occupying.
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| The recently retired Phoenix Captain's Chair |
Join with me in celebrating the life of the recently retired Phoenix Captain's Chair. The arms are witness to the thousands of flight hours this chair has seen. The Phoenix Captain's Chair takes more abuse than the Magellan's chair. Magellan captains tend to spend most of their missions on their feet rushing from station to station barking orders and calming the crew. A Phoenix Captain has nowhere to go, so sit he does - scratch he does, unravel and peel away vinyl he does.
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| Another Phoenix Captain's Chair long gone into the Control Room and then the dumpster. Kind of sad, isn't it? |
And now introducing the new Phoenix Captain's Chair in its honored place on the high level of the Phoenix Bridge. This is the chair any captain would be honored to rest his fanny upon. Although I worry about those vinyled arms. How many missions would you give those before they show the wear of thousands of fingernails?
This new chair of different colors is missing its wheels, a necessary action to prevent the captain from rolling off the platform and to silence the noise of wheels on a diamond plated floor.
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| The Voyager Captain's Chair of yesteryear, Once the focal point of the bridge, and then..... |
Our Requiem for Two Chairs is complete when we understand where the two retired chairs have gone. They, like most command chairs before them, will cross through the veil in the care of an honor guard of staff and volunteers and rolled to the banks of the River Styx which forms the boundary between the land of mere mortal men and the home of the gods. The chair's journey ends on high Olympus from which they are given their last duty in the service of the Flight Director Gods. Some become the chair of the flight director and others, the second chair.
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| Like all Voyager Captain's Chair before, finds its way to the Voyager Control Room and to the IIFX Station. |
And when all is said and done, and the chair has given its last thread and stitch to the space service, the chair is rolled outside across the blacktop playground and unceremoniously dumped into the dumpsters all schools have by the kitchen / cafeteria exit door. With the chair's usefulness at an end, the chair sinks into the swill of uneated burritos, nondigestible fish sticks, and gallons of unwanted vegetables from the trays of hundreds of school children in a rush to go outside and play.
Speaking on behalf of all those in the Space Service, We Salute our retired Command Chairs.
Telos Discovery Space Center is Pleased to Announce that the Titan Will Soon Be Available to Rent for Your School, Business, or Activity
The Telos Discovery Space Center Team
DiscoverySpaceCenter.com
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