We are in the Thick of It.

My computer clock shows 10:17 P.M. on Friday, August 21, 2009

The Voyager's door is directly in front of me. I'm sitting at my desk typing (a statement that goes without saying since words are appearing on the screen before me). I'm hearing multiple voices, mostly children. I hear Kyle Herring's voice as Flight Director.
"Quiet on the Bridge," the Captain just shouted. I'm thinking we've got a crew of chiefs and no Indians. Typical for a Space Center mission. Everyone wants to be in charge. Everyone wants to be where the action is. Once in awhile one camper amazes us by staying at his station, doing his job, no matter what is happening around him.

The staff are busy around me. They are getting into costume and discussing the next scene. I know what's coming. The younglings don't. I wrote the story. The mission is evolving toward a climax. There will be shouting. There will be panic. The ship's command structure may disintegrate as the captain cowers under his desk leaving his junior officers to face the overwhelming natural and unnatural forces seeking to destroy the Voyager and what it represents.

Landon stopped by to say hello before setting sail for Logan where he attends USU (I know. We forgive him. It is the only Christian thing to do when someone turns from the light to the darkness). And what happens when the staff of yesteryear return for a quick hello?

We draft them back into the service!

Yes, Landon was ambushed by the rest of the staff before he could escape through the front doors and into the dark. He was carried kicking and screaming into the Voyager's control room, tied to a chair and 'told' his reactivation clause was being invoked. He WOULD be acting during the main scenes at midnight. Landon is smart and knows when to fight and when to surrender. He surrendered to our overwhelming force and succumbed to our will.

There is no escape from the Space Education Center. NO ESCAPE. Some have tried only to be caught near the electric fence disguised as an innocent hedge surrounding what appears to be a neighborhood elementary school called Central.

And now it is 10:34 P.M. The mission is progressing well.
We are running USS Canada, a mission I wrote years ago as an overnight mission. It is told as a Super Overnighter today. It is a favorite of the staff.

The first two days of school went well. The children are well behaved as they test their new teachers to see where their breaking point is. Once they know their buttons and how to push them, I expect the honeymoon will end between teacher and student and the long war over their minds will begin. I'm hoping it will be a good year.

And now I'll end this post. Thank you readers for visiting the blog on a regular basis and showing your support for the Center whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Best Wishes,
Mr. Williamson

Update on the Galileo

Hello Troops,
Several of you sent emails requesting information on the Galileo. I'll take a moment and being everyone up to date.

• The Galileo is back at Scenic Services in Lindon where it is being reassembled by Kyle Herring and his team.
  
• Chairs and desks are being installed. Touch screens, computer and network cables are being installed. Additional work on the power system is being done.
  
• The Galileo will be brought to the Space Center September 14th and parked next to 'old' Galileo. Equipment from the current Galileo will be installed in the new Galileo.
• The current Galileo will be taken apart. We are trying to find a buyer. We'd to find it a good home.
• The new Galileo will open for missions once the computer programs are written.
  
• I'm guessing the Galileo will open for missions around the middle of September.
  
• The Galileo officially opens on November 8, 2009 as part of the Space Center's 19th Birthday Celebrations!
  

I'm hoping that answers all the questions about the Galileo. If not, send them along and I'll do a better job getting your questions answered here on the Blog.

Mr. Williamson

On the Start of the New School Year...

Hello Troops,
It doesn’t take a seer to imagine what’s happening throughout the towns, villages, and hamlets across this vast Alpine School District. Children are filling their backpacks with pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, calculators and rulers in preparation for tomorrow’s first day of school. Clothes are spread out over beds while boys and girls make the most important decision of the day - what to wear. Does this match that and does that go with this? Some mothers stand by as consultants, others wouldn’t attempt to get involved in a clothes discussion with their teenager - It’s too risky. Dads are blissfully and permanently excluded from ‘What to Wear’ discussions. Most men are not blessed with the correct rods and cones in their eyes to see the subtleties of fabric and color required for clothes matching. Best to stick with what we know best; sports, electronics and television.

I dreaded the first day of school as a child. I dreaded what my new teacher would be like. I dreaded the thought of learning new math. I mourned the loss of my freedom. No more carefree days spent on my bicycle exploring the streets and avenues of Rapid City, South Dakota. No more lazy afternoons at the public pool. No more long walks home from a day of swimming with my friends. No more treasure hunting under the bleachers at the ball parks. No more sugar stops at the Dairy Queen on Cottonwood Lane filling up on 1 penny Red Vines with our 'under the bleacher' findings.

The end of summer meant an end to our summer backyard sleep overs, and with them went our double dog dare midnight romps through our Canyon Lake neighborhood. Those early 1970's midnight adventures bring fond memories of my gang and I. We prowled our turf - finding imaginative and unholy matchings of toilet paper with trees, cars, fences, bikes and other things best left unmentioned as per instructions issued by the Rapid City Police Department.

We made our own fun in those days. You had to. There were no DVD’s or video machines. There were no iPods or computers. You got up, put on your swimming suit and Tshirt, did your chores, scrounged for money in your mom’s purse or between the couch cushions and hit the road with your friends on your bikes. If we had enough money we cycled several miles to the Kresge's at Bacon Park. Kresge's had a diner with 50 cent hot fudge sundaes. If you got bored waiting for the pool to open you cycled to the spillway on Canyon Lake Dam. Who needed a Lagoon when you had a mossy, slimy dam spillway to slide down? What a blast it was tumbling down the spillway into the creek below, then crawling back up, sometimes making it and others slipping and toppling back down - taking your friends with you.

It was important to our mothers to come home for dinner. As soon as supper was inhaled we were back on our bikes, setting a course for the dirt hills. The dirt hills were magical. We split into teams, staked out our forts and proceeded with vicious and sometimes bloody dirt clod fights.

Those were the good old day of my summers........

Now, its time for school. Summer is over so we put summer things away and get down to business. I urge all of you to work hard in school. Set good goals and do everything you can to reach them. Remember, you’re in school to learn and teachers are there to teach. It is a partnership. The vast majority of teachers really do care about you and your grades. They want you to succeed but can’t force you. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. That saying applies to you and your education. Drink deeply. Satisfy your cravings for knowledge. Learn to think and reason so you can become a productive member of society. That’s is all we ask. Is it too much?

Remember, us old timers are not going to be around forever. You will grow up and take over for us. That can be frightening. Do a better job than we are doing in the way you care for this country and planet when its your turn to make decisions. America’s best years are before us, not behind us as many might say. Find a way to make the world a better place because you’re here......now.

Enjoy this year. Make new friends. Grow and develop into the kind of person you want everyone to think you are.

And to our young volunteers and staff - I’ll see you here in the trenches.

Mr. Williamson