A Dark Friday for the Space Center. So Rare.

Hello Troops,
Only a few times a year is complete quiet heard on a Friday at the Space Center. Today is one of those rare Fridays.

The school is quiet, the Space Center empty, except for me. Here I sit, keeping company with the ghosts of Central's teachers past. They roam the hallways when all are gone, looking for escape from their self inflicted torment. I hear them from time to time, crying in anguish behind locked classroom doors. It seems this school has become a special purgatory to punish teachers for the evil they inflicted upon students during their mortal years.


The ghosts ignore me. I don't know why. Perhaps they sense my impending membership in their Society of Anguishing Teachers. If so, then I state here and now that they have been sorely misinformed. What evil have I done to students? Yes, I've done my fair share of dispensing stern lectures for misbehavior. I've given countless dictionary pages to be copied by incorrigible students. And yes, my tongue has released several arrows of extreme sarcasm into many a deserving student's psyche. It is an survival skill I learned in 1983 during my first year teaching the 6th grade. Sarcasm has kept me sane during the ups and downs of almost 30 school years, to the dismay of many a bully and miscreant.


I stand guilty as charged if these be the sins which anchor a teacher's soul to this world. I'll challenge the Gate Keeper to show me a teacher who hasn't when my time comes. If one can't be found, then I shall ask him to step aside and let me pass.

To all the Space Center's Staff and Volunteers, I wish you a happy Dark Friday. My work here is done for the day and I leave the building to my vaporous colleagues.

Mr. Williamson

The Ghost Teacher

The school is closed, the children gone,

But the ghost of a teacher lingers on.

As the daylight fades, as the daytime ends,
As the night draws in and the dark descends,

She stands in the class room, as clear as glass,

And calls the names of her absent class.

The school is shut, the children grown,

But the ghost of the teacher all alone,

Puts the date on the board and moves about

(As the night draws in and the stars come out)

Between desks -A glow in the gloom-

And calls for quite in the silent room.

The school is a ruin, the children fled,

But the ghost of the teacher, long time dead,

As the moon comes up and the first owls glide,

Puts on her coat and steps outside.

In the moonlit playground, shadow free,

She stands on duty with a cup of tea.

The school is forgotten -the children forget-

But the ghost of a teacher, lingers yet.

As the night creeps up to the edge of day,

She tidies the Plasticine away;

Counts the scissors -a shimmer of glass-

And says, "Off you go!" to her absent class.

She utters the words that no one hears.

Picks up her bag...

And

Disappears.

Allan Ahlberg

The Thursday of our Spring Break

Hello Troops,
We start today's post with shocking news from Mars.



Yes, a new picture from Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Could this be proof that life exists on Mars? Some ancient astronaut theorists think so (it is an interesting picture, wouldn't you agree).

Today is the Thursday of our Spring Vacation. Early this afternoon I drove the Battlestar to Lehi's Costco to restock on candy bars and other items. The Space Center runs on love, devotion, dedication, creativity, imagination and CANDY BARS! Candy bars are the currency with which we pay our awesome volunteers. Our volunteers know to check in at my desk upon arrival. I swipe their volunteer card and direct them with a nod, glance or a mumble to the Space Center's Candy Treasury filled with delicious mouth watering chocolates and other fine confectionery. They may select one candy bar to power them through the next two hours.

Costco is a dangerous place for me. There are so many cool things I never knew I needed until I see them at Costco, sitting on the shelves, and calling my name like the Sirens of old calling out and shipwrecking ancient sailors onto the rocks of Anthemusa. I stand shipwrecked on each aisle, memorized by the merchandise. I imagine the device in my home, filling a hitherto unknown and desperate need. An 80 inch LED TV caught my eye today. It sat on display right at the entrance, entrapping the innocent.

"Buy me..... Buy me....." It whispered into my ear. I nearly succumbed to the temptation, had it not been the $4000.00 price tag which quickly convinced me to lift anchor and sail away. Yes, Costo is a dangerous place for me. I wouldn't normally put myself in such peril, but Costco is the place where I buy candy bars and batteries for the Space Center. It is an evil I must learn to resist.

Megan and Christine spent much of the afternoon working on new summer missions for the Phoenix and Odyssey.

And now from the Imginarium's Dept. of Useless Items.....




Is this the story of your life living with mathematics?





And finally, the perfect analogy for those trapped in a room with an overly optimistic zealot. Aren't they the worst. They always smile, even at funerals. What is there to smile about at a funeral?

"Oh, let's be thankful they've gone to a better place!" they say with an obnoxious smile stretching from ear to ear.

"No, I'm not thankful they've gone on to a better place," I reply. "I kind of liked having them right here."

They fail a test at school. "Look on the bright side," they say. "At least now I know what I should have known!"

They are those who believe the word 'Impossible' was coined in the fires of Hell and used to thwart mankind of their true potential. "If there's a Will there's a Way," I've heard them say year after year after year.

This is my new comeback.



Have a great day troops!

Mr. Williamson

Space News Updates

NASA Torn over AGW

GOES-15 satellite in assembly. This satellite, launched in 2010, studies the Earth's weather and climate for NASA.

The struggle over Global Warming takes on a new dimension. Three years ago, President Obama gave NASA a new directive to build new satellites to study the problem of Global Warming, and to use its resources to push the government's agenda of using AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming, meaning "man-caused") to legislate new rules against energy providers and new rules to change how Americans live. This agenda would cause many job losses and cost the American taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars, in an attempt to "stop" Global Warming. Appointed by President Obama, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden (former shuttle astronaut and BIG fan of Barack Obama) has accepted this mission enthusiastically and directed NASA resources and facilities to cooperate in this endeavor. This effort has been pushed relentlessly by NASA's Goddard Space Center director Jim Hansen, who recently said that Global Warming is morally equivalent to slavery, and earlier said that people denying Global Warming should be prosecuted! Hansen has been politically active beyond his NASA responsibilities, working as an environmental advisor for AL Gore during his run for the Presidency (and well paid for the effort), as well as being arrested several times since 2009 for actively protesting energy issues such as the Keystone pipeline.

Well, things are getting tougher for NASA to follow the President's lead and the failing push for Global Warming belief. Yesterday, 49 NASA astronauts, scientists and employees sent Adminstrator Bolden a letter of complaint, stating that NASA should "refrain from including unproven remarks in public releases and websites." The group is concerned that NASA's Earth studies have not proven yet that Man-made carbon dioxide release is causing Global Warming, and in fact that there is a great unsettled debate about if it is actually happening. This contradicts the politicalized belief in AGW, and its adherents who claim that the science is "settled". You can read more of the letter and its argument here: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/washington-secrets/2012/04/astronauts-condemn-nasa’s-global-warming-endorsement/469366

In fact, NASA's own studies are now showing that the Global Warming danger does not even exist! Data from NASA satellites, climate stations and new studies are showing that there actually hasn't been warming for the last 15 years. Even Britain's own East Anglia Climatic Rwsearch Unit (which has previously been a HUGE proponent of AGW) now supports the studies which show the SUn itself has largely been a culprit in the cycles of warming and cooling over the centuries. Now, it seems the Sun is entering a period of little sunspot activity, which relates to the 11-year solar cycles. If the Sun continues in this direction, we may even see unusual COOLING in the climates which is reminiscent of several "mini-ice-ages" recorded in the last 500 years. To read more about the new studies, go here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2093264/Forget-global-warming--Cycle-25-need-worry-NASA-scientists-right-Thames-freezing-again.html

So what is NASA to do? Well, for one thing, they might consider firing Jim Hansen, who has been very controversial and in fact embarrassing to the agency. He continually takes money from pro-AGW political groups (such as Al Gore) and his recent arrests do nothing for the reputation of NASA. Second, how about actually performing some science? Pay attention to the actual data coming in and stop "spinning" it to match the demands of the White House.

Harrison "Jack" Schmidt, one of the signers of the petition. He was the only scientist among the astronauts to explore the lunar surface on Apollo 17.

Dodging Solar Storms

Coronal Holes (false color). Credit: SDO/AIA. Thanks to Spaceweather.com.

Every morning I like to check the weather reports. Not just local weather, but also the "weather" in space. Not only do we face threats from Near-Earth-orbiting asteroids, rogue asteroids, meteor showers, and cosmic radiation, but we have a giant nuclear fusion generator only 93,000,000 miles away pumping out stellar winds and radioactive storms that could damage life on Earth. It's interesting that the active events in our solar system have been linked to weather descriptions on Earth.

Thanks to Dr. Tony Phillips, you can watch out for our interplanetary space weather, too. He's created the website http://www.spaceweather.com to bring you the latest news in space storms and potential hazards to Earth. Over the years, as I've visited the site each day, I've really come to understand better the overall picture of our solar system's "weather" cycles and how it all affects us here on planet Earth.

Take sunspots, for example:

Woops! No big Spots!

Every day you can monitor the surface of the Sun that faces the Earth. Sunspots are linked to magnetic solar storms which can emit large blasts of energy towards the Earth. More significantly, recent studies of sunspot populations over time has revealed that the amount of sunspots often has influence on the amount of cosmic radiation hitting the Earth, and even how much cloud cover we have, therefore impacting Global Warming. Forget about the minimal natural effect carbon dioxide has on the climate, the Sun is the real culprit!

And then there's coronal holes. As seen in the top picture, we study x-rays from the sun to monitor these gaping holes in the Sun's plasma, and we've learned how magnetic lines flowing from the holes directs the Solar Wind. That wind also has its affect upon our atmosphere. Thank goodness for our own magnetic fields, which shield us from the Sun's expulsion of solar particles.

Currently, it seems the surface of the Sun is quiet with regard to Sunspots, but coronal holes exist and solar flares could erupt towards Earth at any time. On Spaceweather.com, you can look at predictions for the Sun's interference with our magnetic fields, and when a large coronal mass ejection occurs, you can read warnings of when the storms will hit Earth and expected damage that could be done. Some storms have been able to knock out power grids, interfere with satellite communications, threaten radiation damage to astronauts, and worse. It was increased solar activity which caused the rapid loss of altitude of the famous Skylab space station in the early 1970's eventually causing it to enter the Earth's atmosphere far earlier than planned.

Of course we also get the magnificent Aurora Borealis, the Northern lights. With the change in seasons, we now approach the time when the rising Sun will be up in the Arctic circle for 6 months, and the night lights (interaction of solar particles with the Earth's magnetic fields) will not be visible again until Winter. The past winter has seen tremendous northern lights activity, even being spotted as far south as Northern Utah on rare occasions.

Make a visit to SpaceWeather.com. Check out why there may be little sunspot activity for now, how that may affect us on Earth, and how it relates to the Sun's 11-year cycle.

So don't just think about if there might be some rain this morning or if there's a dangerous storm front approaching. Watch out for spaceweather!