Today we’re delighted to highlight some of the exciting events that have been happening in the greater Washington D.C. area with the Explore! Children’s Museum’s Mission Mobile (a.k.a. IKS Horizon).
We all have a favorite artist and/or a favorite genre of music. Music’s inspiration comes from anywhere. We hear its varied inspirations in all music from the symphonies of Beethoven to the contemporary hip-hop on the radio. But how does that inspiration manifest? How does an artist move from inspiration to a fully realized composition that lives in our car or, alone, in our headphones?
Mission Mobile explores that very question. In its music composition activity, students draw inspiration from our very own Solar System. Mission Mobile invites students on board to create short compositions based upon each of the eight planets in our Solar System.
Utilizing the same critical-thinking, imagination, and collaboration that our simulated missions require, students answer and analyze questions like:
- Saturn has rings made of ice. What does that sound like to you?
- Mercury is the smallest and densest planet. Is that a big sound or a soft sound?
- Venus’ day is longer than its year. Is that a slow or fast sound?
Guided by Mission Mobile’s Mobile Outreach Manager with his guitars and pedals, students build short compositions utilizing a plethora of percussion instruments. In just under ten minutes time, students go from nothing at all to the beginnings of a full planetary suite!
Recently the Mission Mobile took its musical solar system adventure to two different community events. Children at both Riverdale Park Station and the Shiloh Community Festival went on a journey around the Galaxy with opportunities to compose their own instrumental pieces inspired by the planets.
A Happy Birthday to the Christa McAuliffe Space Center from Lindsey Hatch
It has been a wild ride, and along the way I've had the privilege of working with outstanding children, teens, and adults. Lindsey Hatch is one of those outstanding individuals who made a difference at the Space Center.
Lindsey posted a birthday greeting to the Space Center on her Facebook page that I'd like to share with everyone today.
I add my voice to Lindsey's and propose a toast to the Space Center on its 28th birthday. "God bless the Christa McAuliffe Space Center and all who sail in her."
Victor
Jon Parker Celebrates his 28th Birthday, Born the Day After the Space Center Opened. Had I Known I Would Have Delayed the Grand Opening One More Day
Everyone in the Space EdVenturing business knows Jon Parker. He's been around for years and years and years and years and is still hanging around the place. Jon worked his way up through the ranks starting as a young black shirt Pioneer to a Voyager then a Blue Shirt Supervisor to a Flight Director and now Assistant Director of the Center.
It wasn't a smooth ride to the top for Jon. There were a few bumps in the road. I nearly showed him the door years ago when he let a real smoke bomb off in the Voyager. Of course he wasn't thinking of the consequences - like the fact that my desk sat in the Briefing Room next to the Voyager's entrance. Like I wouldn't smell a real smoke bomb. His numerous "Get Out of Jail Free Cards" saved him that day. He burned through all of them in that one moment of glory but it has made for a fun story even to this day.
Another of Jon's 'bumps' in the road hit him in the head like a ton of bricks. It was the Saturday morning of one of our weekly weekend overnight camps. He was involved in a landing party - rushing down the hall where the old school meets the new addition. Someone kicked open the double doors striking Jon square in the head. Jon and I spent the next hour or two at InstaCare for stitches. So many stories we could tell about Jon; some I know and others I don't. Over the years I've come to realize there are many stories about the staff and volunteers that never reached my ears. Perhaps for the best.
Happy Birthday to one of my favorite persons, friends, and allies in this Space EdVenturing endeavor. With James Porter and Jon Parker at the Space Center's helm, what can go wrong?
James, keep him away from firework stands and watch him like a hawk the first week of July.
Victor
"If You're the Best and You Know It Clap Your Hands. Clap Clap." And in the Odyssey's Case, You Show it On Your Trophy Shelf.
Matt Ricks was found at the Space Center tinkering with cardboard bits and scraps on Saturday.
"I'm imagineering the next generation of ship panels," he said. With the new Space Center's imminent construction rushing towards us, Mr. Porter has given Matt his marching orders. Design the panels for the new simulators. Design starts with hours of pondering, sketching, and finally building mock ups of those paper and pencil designs. Matt is in the mock up stage.
The opening and closing panels are what I like about the new designs. They show promise and endless fun for the future ship engineers. I believe the Space Center's Engineering Department will build the panels. If not, Matt may have to step up to the plate.
Irregardless if whether or not the panels will ever be build, the cardboard versions are pretty cool in their own right. Hey, with a bit of lacre and paint, you could get them to look pretty realistic.
Imaginarium Theater
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| A Very Young Lindsey in the Phoenix. She's all grown up now. |
I know I’m a day late in saying this, but Happy 28th Birthday to the Christa McAuliffe Space Center!! Even though I may be far away in the tundras of Logan, this special place will always have a special spot in my heart. It’s been a wild ride, but I have been in love with it since the moment I first set foot in the Voyager 8 years ago. I have met some of the best humans in the galaxy inside the walls of that space place, and I will always cherish every shared moment of bringing the Discipline of Wonder to life for our crews! From one of my first flights to my last: I couldn’t help but smile and have a big thumbs up! I think even as a 12 year old, I knew I was part of one of the greatest programs in the galaxy and at the (2nd) Happiest Place on Earth!
I’ve been taught a lot over the years through volunteering, supervising, and flying; but if I were to choose the most important and what I would want everyone to know when they come through our doors, it would be this: “Inside you is the potential to make yourself better... and that is what it is to be human. To make yourself more than you are.” - Jean Luc Picard
Being involved at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center has molded me and helped me to become who I am today, and I can’t wait to take my kids one day to one of the places that changed my life for the better!
Happy Birthday, CMSC! Here’s to many more!
Jon Parker Celebrates his 28th Birthday, Born the Day After the Space Center Opened. Had I Known I Would Have Delayed the Grand Opening One More Day
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| I brought lunch to Jon on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He was flying "Event Horizon" in the Magellan. Jon is sporting a full, thick, and long head of hair. I'm sure he does it to spite me. As we all know, all those years of stress, worry, and sleepless nights running the Space Center have taken their toll on my once lushly forested head top. "Lookin a bit thin up top," he likes to say whenever I comment on his overgrowth. I've learned to shut my mouth. |
It wasn't a smooth ride to the top for Jon. There were a few bumps in the road. I nearly showed him the door years ago when he let a real smoke bomb off in the Voyager. Of course he wasn't thinking of the consequences - like the fact that my desk sat in the Briefing Room next to the Voyager's entrance. Like I wouldn't smell a real smoke bomb. His numerous "Get Out of Jail Free Cards" saved him that day. He burned through all of them in that one moment of glory but it has made for a fun story even to this day.
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| Jon back in his volunteering days with Stacy in the Briefing Room. Stacy is quite bored and exhausted with Jon and his enthusiasm. "Please," her eyes are saying. "Please find something for him to do. Maybe the Voyager could use another pirate?" |
Another of Jon's 'bumps' in the road hit him in the head like a ton of bricks. It was the Saturday morning of one of our weekly weekend overnight camps. He was involved in a landing party - rushing down the hall where the old school meets the new addition. Someone kicked open the double doors striking Jon square in the head. Jon and I spent the next hour or two at InstaCare for stitches. So many stories we could tell about Jon; some I know and others I don't. Over the years I've come to realize there are many stories about the staff and volunteers that never reached my ears. Perhaps for the best.
Happy Birthday to one of my favorite persons, friends, and allies in this Space EdVenturing endeavor. With James Porter and Jon Parker at the Space Center's helm, what can go wrong?
James, keep him away from firework stands and watch him like a hawk the first week of July.
Victor
"If You're the Best and You Know It Clap Your Hands. Clap Clap." And in the Odyssey's Case, You Show it On Your Trophy Shelf.
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| Saturday in the Odyssey's Control Room. Tabitha and Mason are Flying "Heir to the Empire." There's an old mission for you. Notice the Space Center trophies weighing heavily on the top shelf. The Odyssey wants all ships to know that it is the best, has always been the best, and will always be the best ship in town - bar none. Natalie Anderson and staff are willing to fight anyone who says differently. |
Matt Ricks Ever Tinkering with Bits and Bobs as He Imagineers the Next Generation of Simulator Dial, Switch, and Isolinear Chip Panels.
Matt Ricks was found at the Space Center tinkering with cardboard bits and scraps on Saturday.
"I'm imagineering the next generation of ship panels," he said. With the new Space Center's imminent construction rushing towards us, Mr. Porter has given Matt his marching orders. Design the panels for the new simulators. Design starts with hours of pondering, sketching, and finally building mock ups of those paper and pencil designs. Matt is in the mock up stage.
The opening and closing panels are what I like about the new designs. They show promise and endless fun for the future ship engineers. I believe the Space Center's Engineering Department will build the panels. If not, Matt may have to step up to the plate.
Irregardless if whether or not the panels will ever be build, the cardboard versions are pretty cool in their own right. Hey, with a bit of lacre and paint, you could get them to look pretty realistic.
In the Just For Fun Category.
An Alien Hitches a Ride on the Phoenix, Reaches Earth, Attaches Itself to Victoria and Searches for Brians......
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| Cleary under the control of the alien visitor, Victoria snuck up behind Tyler. The alien sniffed and nodded in approval. These brains will do just fine. |
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| It was gruesome to watch so I snapped this last picture and retreated to the safety of the Magellan. Magellan security arrived moments later to dispatch the alien. Tyler, while traumatized, is making a full recovery at Starfleet Medical. The alien was detached from Victoria and sent to the lab for examination. Victoria is resting peacefully at home unable to remember anything from the previous day. |
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