Bracken Funk in the Shamgod Race.

Bracken, when he's not in class or in Utah running missions at the Space Center.

Hello Troops,
Bracken Funk is a Space Center Flight Director who is attending Fresno State. He plays on their basketball team. He is in the running for the Shamgod Race. Sound odd? I asked Bracken to send a defination.

The God Shamgod race is a race hosted by stormingthefloor.net, which is a large national sports blog, that takes names in college hoops that are interesting, and piles them together. Then, once the names have all been compiled, the stats of the players are taken, and the players are in a race to see which player in the country with the strangest name, has some amount of basketball skill. 50 players start at the beginning of the season, and throughout the season, players are dropped (those with the worst stats) until a winner is selected, the player who has the weirdest/strangest name (Shamgod), but has the best stats (God), thus, the God Shamgod race.

Please visit the Shamgod website to see Bracken move up in the rankings. Here are the latest standings:
http://www.stormingthefloor.net/2010/11/

Good luck Bracken!
The Space Center Staff.

Overnight Camp Friday. Off to Walmart

Hello Troops,
Its nearly 6:30 A.M. and time to get ready for school. Walmart will be my first stop of the day once I get the Battlestar shocked into life and warmed up. I'm not one who enjoys shopping but my Friday A.M. wander through WalMart is tolerable. I know exactly what I need and where its located, thus keeping my time in store to a minimum. I'm even on a first name basis with the ladies at the check out. They see me coming and automatically put in the school district's tax free number without my reminding them. That is what I all customer service!

The overnight staff look forward to my Friday Walmart safari. They know I'll be bringing back those nice "Everything on Them Rolls" they love so much. You should try them if you haven't already done so. They are delicious.

Tonight we will host 45 students from Sego Lily Elementary School. They are always great to work with.

Now, before I get ready, how about a few chuckles to properly start our Friday.

Guilty. Anyone Else?? Don't leave me hanging here.

OK, this is interesting. I'm wondering if the Defense Dept. has something to do with this. What's missing is the reverse portion of the sign. It reads, "Experiments underway. Buying cats. Will pay top dollar."

I've always wondered why schools and places of business (not to mention churches) don't have these installed next to the fire extinguishers. It just makes sense to me.

And what about home use? Just think, many of you have some kind of food storage in case of a societal meltdown and Armageddon. Well, what good is food storage if you don't have some way to protect yourself from the Zombies certainly to be afoot, fresh from the grave, searching for something tasting of human brain?

And finally. I've always believed the true path to Utopia and Nirvana would lead me to a place like this. It reminds me of my dream entrance to the Space Center. My dream entrance to the Center would look like a small, unassuming travel agency with one desk, brochures and posters of exotic places far away. No one would suspect that a secret government Space Center lurked inside.

A receptionist would greet the party and ask what tour or destination they were interested in visiting. To get into the hidden Space Center, the customer would had to say the 'secret word'. If correct, the receptionist would push a button. Automatic blinds would close, preventing anyone standing outside to see in. They would be invited to step into a large custodial closet. Once everyone was inside, the opposite wall would open, revealing the Center itself. Kind of like 'Men in Black'.

Have a Great Weekend!
Mr. W.

Possibilities for Alien Life

Hello Troops,
A bit of scientific news I found interesting about arsenic eating bacterium. This discovery means that life is more robust than previously thought. This means that life is capable of taking hold in more hostile environments.

My personal opinion, I believe life is abundant in the universe. I believe where ever we find liquid water we will also find life.

What an exciting time to be alive. We are lucky.

Mr. W.

And now the article.

Possibilities for Alien Life
By Henry Bortman
Astrobiology Magazine

One of the basic assumptions about life on Earth may be due for a revision. Scientists have discovered a type of bacteria that thrives on poisonous arsenic, potentially opening up a new pathway for life on Earth and other planets.

If you thumb through an introductory biology textbook, you'll notice that six elements dominate the chemistry of life. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen are the most common. After that comes phosphorus, then sulfur. Most biologists will tell you that these six elements are essential; life as we know it cannot exist without them.

The recent discovery by Felisa Wolfe-Simon of an organism that can utilize arsenic in place of phosphorus, however, has demonstrated that life is still capable of surprising us in fundamental ways. The results of her research will appear in Dec. 2 issue of the journal Science.