The USS Galileo II Finds a New Home at American Heritage School. A Report on the School's New Space Center. The Phoenix Launches at the CMSC! Four More to Go. New Panels in the Simulators. The Space Center History in T-Shirts. The Imaginarium Theater.

The Galileo II Being Reassembled at the American Heritage Space Center in American Fork 

                      Alex Debirk and Matt Long helping Kyle Herring with the 

                              construction of the Galileo II.  Summer 2009

     Exciting things are happening in the Space EdVentures community despite Covid.  I start today's Troubadour post with an update by Alex DeBirk from the American Heritage School's Creative Lab with an update on that school's space center under construction. Isn't it great to see the Galileo in its new home?  And now Alex's update.

Victor 

Hi Victor,

     Things are moving ahead with the American Heritage School program. Our building is now enclosed, but still being finished. The Galileo was moved into the second floor a couple of weeks ago, and this summer we will be building a sister ship to go along with it. Next to the sister ship we will be building the AHS creativity lab. This facility will house a full wood shop, metal shop, costume shop, video production studio, electronics, etc. The idea is to have as few limits as possible. In the AHS program, we are trying to pair the inspiration of the simulators with STEM facilities that allow students to carry those ideas to fruition. 

     Above is a picture of the Galileo in its new home; this entire floor, everything that you can see, will be dedicated to the simulators and creativity lab. 

     The picture above is the first project inspired by our center: an antimatter fuel cell. This fuel cell has a single, large, copper sulfate crystal (grown at AHS) encased in resin and lit by lasers and lights to simulate a large antimatter crystal suspended magnetically. It is programmed and wired to allow multiple power states and even has a battery backup in the cap, where if the students unplug the cell from the ship, Lights will slowly turn off over 10 minutes before indicating that the battery that suspends the antimatter has died, the antimatter has touched the edge, and the ship has exploded. Pretty neat. What I hope is that the simulators, coupled with this creativity lab, will allow the simulator concept you began to go further than ever before.

Alex Debirk

American Heritage School Space Center

The Phoenix II Launches from the Christa McAuliffe Space Center. 

       Jordan Smith and Scott Wiltbank in the Phoenix Control Room on Saturday

                                               

     More exciting news from Utah's space education centers.  The Christa McAuliffe Space Center launched the new Phoenix on Saturday.  The Phoenix II is the second of the Center's six simulators to open. The Odyssey opened for mission a few weeks ago. Reservations are still limited to family groups only until government restrictions are lifted. You can reserve a 2.5 hour mission in the Phoenix for 5-7 participants for $105.

The Phoenix Test Mission: The First Group

Visit the CMSC website to make your next flight reservation: https://spacecenter.alpineschools.org/group-missions/

New Panels Being Installed at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center

     James Porter has many pots on the fire at the moment with the new simulators getting ready to open and the planetarium.  These control panels are currently on the front burner and they're coming along nicely. This panel was installed over the weekend with many more to come.  

                     

     My hat is off to James. Not many people know what it takes to run a Space EdVentures space center. He is a gifted and talented teacher and administrator and the best man for the job. It is as if he's been training for this position since his high school days :)  

The History of the Christa McAuliffe Space Center in T-Shirts.

The CMSC had some gems from the past donated to their archives. Thank you to Kathy Gover for bringing them in rather than throwing them out. These shirts belong to her sons Cory and Ben Gover, two of my outstanding early Young Astronauts at Central Elementary school.

The blue Young Astronaut shirt style was the shirt worn by my Young Astronauts when we travelled to International Young Astronaut conventions in Florida, Oklahoma, Japan, and South Korea. The blue shirt pre-dated the construction of the first Space Center.

The Pegasus shirt was my Young Astronaut Club's first t-shirt dating from the late 1980's. The Pegasus was my classroom simulator with poster board controls.

The gray Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center shirt was the first t-shirt made after the CMSEC opened in 1990.

Do you have old Space Center memorabilia from the past that you'd like to donate to Space Center's archives. If so, please contact me at SpaceCampUtah@gmail.com or James Porter at SpaceCenter@alpinedistrict.org.

Victor

Imaginarium Theater

The Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience.