The Volunteer Club Meets for Keyboard Training and the Space Center's Great Wall Under Construction

The Home for our Special Volunteers
(a crow caws in the distance)

Hello Troops,
Flight Directors Emily, Megan and Jon held a special training meeting on Monday, April 2 for the Space Center's special volunteers. The training was held in the computer lab at Central School - home of the Space Education Center.

"Our special volunteers enjoy the time we give them away from the day to day drudge of the Home for Special Volunteers," Emily said. Emily started this special training program last month. She says her special program is a win win for all. "The Space Center wins because we get a better trained staff who require less supervision. The volunteers win because good volunteers get released time from the home on a more regular basis."

Megan and Jon walked the volunteers across the marshlands and bog to the school for the training meeting. There was a bit of a crisis along the way. One of the smaller volunteers was pushed off the well worn path and fell into the marsh. He was up to his neck in mud and muck before Jon successfully pulled him back to dry land with a rope and hook.

" 'bout lost one," Jon meekly confessed to Emily when they arrived. Emily stood outside waiting. She was aghast at the boy's mud pie appearance.

"We've had this conversation before," Emily reminded him. "Lose just one more and you're through."

Jon glanced down at his feet, embarrassed at the dressing down he was given in front of the volunteers. He spoke in his defense, "You can't blame me for...."

"Stop right there," Emily held out her hand as if to strike. Jon winced backward. "Don't start - we still haven't found that boy you lost along the path two years ago." Megan smirked. She's been after Jon's position for several years now. Anything that makes Jon look incompetent and untrustworthy betters the odds of her removing him from his position.

The volunteers marched through the school's halls and into the computer lab.


Each was assigned to a computer. James sat down, licked his lips, mumbled "glass and aluminum" and leaned forward to touch his tongue to the computer. Some people like to smell things. James likes to taste things.

"NO!" Jon spoke sharply. James stopped abruptly - his tongue 1/2 inch from the screen.

"James was going to lick the screen again," Marissa giggled. James kicked her from under the table. Marissa yelped.


"STOP IT!" Jon spoke even more sharply. He caught Emily glancing at him questioningly from the white board. He heard Megan smirking. James went back to chewing on his yellow shirt sleeve - a tactic suggested by his therapist to help overcome the urge.



Jorden raised his hand. "What's today's lesson on?" he asked. Jorden likes to smile. His nickname at the Home is 'Smiler'.

"Good question, ten points for the Blue Team because of Jorden's good question," Emily snapped her fingers and ten points appeared on the Home's House Tally Board. Matthew patted Jorden on the back. Jorden's smile broadened to stretch from ear to ear. Seeing his face contort like that can take you slightly off your mark if you've not seen him do it before.

"STOP IT!" Jon barked. "Smile normally."

"Smiling normally," Jorden's smile released its broad hold on his face, returning his ears to their normal position.

Emily cleared her throat and continued. She was careful not to look at Jorden. "We are going to practice our keyboarding. The biggest problem volunteers have at the Space Center is keyboarding and spelling. We flight directors need volunteers who can keyboard quickly and spell reliably.


Al sat up smartly and spoke out of turn without raising his hand. "I keyboard quick and can spell Reliable."
Kimball smirked. He knew that Al had a hard enough time just finding the home row on the keyboard, let alone type anything readable. Nathan starting making monkey faces and noises. He sat on Al's right. No one knows why, but Nathan makes monkey faces and noises when he feels threatened. Keyboards threaten Nathan - with all the buttons and the consequences for not pushing each one correctly.

"What is that?" Emily questioned, pointing toward Al.

"His name is Nathan," Jon answered. "He's somewhat new to the Home for Special Volunteers. He makes those faces and noises when he feels threatened. Just ignore him. He stops after awhile if you ignore him ."

"I'm not referring to Nathan," Emily moved closer to Al. "What is that on HIS face!?"

"A beard," Jon answered.

"And what is a beard doing on the face of a Space Center volunteer?"

"Is there a policy against it?"

"If there isn't then there should be."

"I'll consult Mr. Williamson on the matter - shall I?" Jon moved toward the door.

"Let's get through this class first." Emily walked back to the white board. "Hands on the home row............"

"STOP THAT!" Jon reached out and stopped James from licking the back of his chair.

Emily continued. "And begin.... A, S, D, F....."

The Space Center's Great Wall.
One of the Space Center's New and Marvelous Wonders

The Great Wall of the Space Center is under construction. This new wonder will divide and separate the school's commons area from the 6th grade hallway. The commons is where the Space Center's Digitarium Planetarium is housed. Noise from the hallways is a constant disturbance during the Space Center's planetarium shows. This new and wonderful wall will solve the noise problem.

In addition to the wall, the Space Center is installing black out curtains in the commons. The black out curtains will completely darken the room. Having a dark room is a real plus because of the tiny pinpricks in the planetarium's fabric dome. The pinpricks let in tiny points of room light into the dome. Each point of light is seen as an extra star in the night sky. I'm sure you get the picture.

The Alpine School District Maintenance Shop is building the wall. It should be finished by week's end. We are all very excited.

ATV-3 Resupply Docks with ISS

ATV-3 Resupply Docks with ISS

ATV-3 (left) approaches the docking port of the Zvezda Module (right).

On Friday, March 23, the European Space Agency launched the third in their series of Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV) to resupply the International Space Station. ATV-3 was nicknamed "Edoardo Amaldi" after an Italian scientist. The launch, operated by ArianneSpace, took place at the Agency's Korou, French Guiana space center in Northern South America. The mighty Arianne 5 rocket lifted off for an 8-minute ride to orbit, lifting the 20-ton cargo vessel in a beautiful flight over the Atlantic and past the Azore islands.

ESA launch facilities in French Guiana.

ATV-3 blasts off on an Arianne 5 rocket.

The Edoardo Amaldi is the first of the ATV series of 5 launches to meet the ESA's goal of one flight per year to the ISS. The Agency hopes the remaining two flights in this first resupply program will continue to meet their goal. Soon after reaching orbit, the ATV extended its 4 solar panels and made course corrections to catch up to the orbiting ISS.

ATV-3 is powered by 4 solar panels (2 in the shadows on right). An ISS solar panel, seen edge-on, blocks the front view of the ATV.

ATV-3 finally caught up to the ISS and docked to the aft end of the Russian-built Zvesda Service Module on March 28th. Although the craft itself weighs about 20 tons, its cargo comprised about six and a half tons of propellant, air, water, food, and other supplies needed for operations. It will remain docked to the ISS for 5 months. One of its most important missions will be to use it's own propellant and engines to boost the altitude of the ISS higher above the Earth.

50 YA - Kennedy watches an Atlas Test

President Kennedy with Air Force Generals at Vandenberg AFB. Picture from the SAC Elite Guard Association site.

On March 23, 1962 President John F. Kennedy did something no other president had ever done. He watched a test firing of an Atlas D InterContinental Ballistic MIssile (ICBM) from a silo at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Vandenberg AFB was the site for many of the military test missions of ICBM's, and also included launch silos for operational use of in-service ICBMs.

Welcome for Air Force One and the President. Picture from the SAC Elite Guard Association site.

It's important for us to remember today, that way back then in the early 60's our nation was experiencing the Cold War with our enemies, Soviet Russia. ICBMs stood by in each country ready to launch and inflict nuclear warfare on the other nation. So it seems more than appropriate that the American President should have been witness to a launch of our country's most important defensive weapon at the time. At the same time, both of our countries were engaged in a politically-inspired race of technology to conquer space and lead the world in space technology. In 1962, the Soviets seemed to be winning that race, and President Kennedy was gearing up the nation to be the first to land men on the Moon.

Atlas D ICBM at Pad 12 at Cape Canaveral.

The rocket launched that day from California was the Atlas D model ICBM. This type first flew in 1959. The operational rocket witness by the President was launched from a silo buried in the ground to protect it from enemy attack and hide it from surveillance. I was unable to find a picture of the silo and launch, though there is a video on Youtube that shows President Kennedy observing the blast-off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j5UaRnk4mg

(Thanks HelmerReenberg and Youtube!) I've included a picture of an Atlas D model at Launch Complex 12 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Atlas D was used for other NASA purposes as well, including 4 Mercury Program launches.

The Space Center Marathon. Do You Have What it Takes?

Hello Troops,
This is what our staff and volunteers look like when given a bit of food at the end of our weekly Space Center Marathon. The 25 hour Marathon begins every Friday afternoon at 4:00 P.M. and ends at 5:00 P.M. Saturday afternoon. During the Space Center Marathon, our brave volunteers and staff work the Friday 4:00 P.M. private mission. Then they stay and work the Overnight Camp. After the Overnight Camp they stay and work the 11:00 A.M. Saturday missions and finish the Marathon by staying for the 2:30 P.M. missions. They volunteer for this torture themselves. It is their way of testing their grit and determination. It is their way of finding out who has it and who doesn't. It is their way of separating the men and women from the boys and girls.

The Iditarod in Alaska is peanuts compared to the Space Center Marathon. Imagine 25 hours of missions, only briefly interrupted by six hours of sleep? Imagine living on drinking fountain water and a bit of soda and a cookie at 11:00 P.M. before bedtime. Imagine eating a couple Walmart donuts, Gogurts, a banana and a bit of milk or Sunny Delight for breakfast. Imagine only having a few day old Walmart dinner rolls to keep you going through the long Saturday afternoon. Imagine dealing with dozens and dozens of campers ranging in age from ten to 90. And worse of all, Imagine having to deal with me all that time! The horror of it all can hardly be expressed in writing. It must be witnessed. Only when witnessed do you truly appreciate the effort these braves souls put into their work.

The Space Center has an awesomely dedicated tribe of volunteers and staff. They work hard to make everyone's visit to the Center meaningful and enjoyable. Please be sure to thank the volunteers and staff who work your next mission. Tell them you appreciate their effort. Tell them you feel sorry for the small pitiful wage (if any) they receive. Tell them they will be in your prayers.

The benefits of taking the time to thank them will result in their extra effort to ensure your mission goes without a fault.

Springtime is when we ask the most from our volunteers. Springtime is that time of the year when we run most of our two a day field trips. Two a day field trips start with two classes arriving by bus at 9:30 A.M. They leave at 1:30 P.M. The second school bus arrives at 2:00 P.M. Those kids stay until 6:00 P.M. Birthdays and other parties arrive at 6:15 P.M. for their evening missions. This could mean as many as 21 missions per day using all five simulators. Volunteers are needed for nearly every mission. A flight director's worst nightmare is to find out there aren't enough volunteers to fill all their staffing needs when they arrive to direct a mission. Once again, we thank our volunteers. They are the Center's life blood.

Please contact the Center by email if you have an interest in volunteering. It is a great way to develop good working habits while interacting with outstanding, wholesome, teens and adults. It is a good place to make new friendships with others your age with similar interests.

And now, from the Imaginarium:




And a bit of something for our hybrid fans (those loving Dr. Who and the Space Center).

I always wondered what became of that little green alien.
Come to find out he's lived here all the time

This should read: "Always be yourself, Unless you can be Batman or a volunteer or staff member at the Space Center!"

One way to solve the ever rising fuel price problem.
This goes hand in hand with the belief that the only way out of our nation's
financial crisis is to print more money!

The only thought that kept me going during the dark times while the Space Center was being built and the program developed.

Mother's day is next month.
How does one thank the woman who brought you into this world and loves you
more than life itself?

Well, its back in the trenches tomorrow. I have no worries. I know I've got my staff and volunteers beside me riding shotgun.

Mr. W.