The Day Before.....

Hello Troops,

Let me begin by saying that there is no news on how long the Space Center will be closed for the electrical upgrade. I've spent the last two days notifying the people booked for parties and camps that we are closed and arranging refunds if warranted.  People are very upset (and they have every right to be so).  I hope they understand closing is something we had to do.  Our electrical issues must be solved now.  

Keep checking The Troubadour for more news and information. 

Today is the day before teachers report to their Institutions of Education and Advanced Testing.  We spend tomorrow in professional development, meaning we receive instruction on how to prepare the student (you) to pass your state exams.  Don't let us down.  Soon a portion of our pay will be determined by how many of YOU pass those exams.  The pressure is building.  

Is it right to direct all instruction toward the almighty test?  There are experts on both sides of the issue with convincing arguments, and don't look to me for the answer.  I'm as confused as you are.  Until its all figured out, the student (YOU) should always do your best and LEARN.  We teach and you learn.  That's the agreement - right?  

Students must be good questioners and listeners.  Keep your mind open to all sides in a discussion of opposing views.  Learn to identify real facts from the smoke and mirrors of fancy language and use those solid facts as the foundation for your own opinion.

Mr Williamson Climbs Up on His Soapbox.  Be Forgiving  

We are in the throws of an election cycle.  The Republicans and Democrats are blanketing the airwaves with verbiage they want you to file as absolute facts.  They make broad statements like, "The American people want....."  and spew out their memorized and coached pitches hoping what they present as facts will sail unopposed through your questioning and logic filter and land in that part of your brain reserved for absolute truths.  Remember, politicians are salesmen, selling their wares out of the back of rickety old wagons that have been around for centuries.   Every 'gem' they sell is wrapped in some form of truth.  Its what's under the wrapper that should be held in suspect.  Take this statement for example,  

"We are in the midst of a great recession...... !"  This statement is the outer wrapper.  It is the truth. So far so good.  We remove the truthful wrapper and see another.  

"This recession is the cause of homelessness and high unemployment.  Families are struggling to meet their financial obligations."  

We nod in agreement.  We like what we see.  We're convinced this remedy, pitched by a well dressed, well polished salesman out of the back of his rickety wagon on the side of the dusty road, is the real cure for our national upset stomach.  

You unwrap the second wrapping and see the beating heart.  "And what is the cure for this madness?  Friends, let me tell you the truth......"  

There it is.  What should you do?  Think and Question. 

  

Be caution with someone or something that tells you not to question or think for yourself.  Be wary of someone or something that reserves certain facts, truths and information - and tells you that those things are not necessary and not important.  Agreed, there are things in live that should be kept confidential and others that shouldn't but are.  Wonder, "What and why is the information hidden?"   

I suggest we use our God given brains for something more than a wind stopper between our ears.  We should THINK and QUESTION.  When it comes time for you to take a stand, you can do it intelligently and with purpose.  

A true education should teach you how to discern fact from fiction.  It should give you the tools to be a life long learner.  A true education should give you a knowledge base in language, rational thinking, philosophy, science, math, history and the humanities.   These basics act as filters in your search for meaning and truth.  These things must be taught in American's schools.  

Let's have a great school year.  Let's be thinkers, listeners and questioners.  

  

And now, Things from the Imaginarium

  

A stairway that belongs in the Imaginarium.

I put this here knowing you may need it some day.

Just because it's classical doesn't mean it can't be fun.

An excellent way to say goodbye and hello in the same poster.

Bolt was amazing.  Bolt is amazing.  

You couldn't have a better name for who he is.

A good shirt to wear to that party of extroverts.

I'll bet it's good in the German snow.

I'd look good in something like this.

A 10 for imagination.

Instead of normal boring airport chairs, you think outside the box and give people egg chairs.

This is how I feel on a Monday morning when I get to the Space Center.

I always leave with everything done on a Saturday afternoon.

I always find this waiting for me at 8:00 A.M. Monday.

What we may need if this drought doesn't subside.

I got the chills just reading it.

What is sold at an Inconvenient Store?

Regardless,  the name alone would draw me in.

A 10 for Imagination.

A gem to use when your teacher or coach ask you if you always give 100%.

All I ever see on Facebook some days.

Have a Great Day Troops and be positive.  This too shall pass.  The Space Center will be open soon.

Mr. Williamson

The Space Education Center Closes for Upgrades

Hello Troops,

I hoped August would be good to us.  We worked hard all summer long.  We set a new attendance record for the summer season.  We spent countless hours at the Center running camps and private parties.  We survived the government free breakfast and lunch program.  Everything seemed to be going our way.  August was suppose to provide a few weeks of rest and relaxation and then we would all march happily back into the trenches for the school year season.

UNTIL......

During our yearly scheduled maintenance we discovered several electrical issues that must be resolved.  We also have other issues in the actual simulators that must be changed and update to meet current code.  These issues will required the Center to be closed for several months while our district's maintenance department works through the repair and refit process. 

Children worldwide react in shock to the News.

Not to fear.  All will be fixed.  We just need some time.

The bad.  

• The Space Center will be closed until all the work is done. 
• All employees are off during the upgrade.
• All volunteers are off during the upgrade. 

The Good! 

• We will get a perfectly working Space Center with enough power and plugs for everything we need.  
• Our ships will be up to current building codes. 

Staff and volunteers, that means you won't have to put up with me for a few months!  You can rejoin the real world, smell the roses, walk down the sidewalk and reintroduce yourself to your neighbors, relearn the names of your siblings, parents, friends and cousins, go on a date or two if your old enough, text a long dismissed friend and ask, "Want to hang out?"  The possibilities are endless. 

Enjoy your freedom!

  

Feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your back.

Campers

I must apologize to everyone who had their private missions and overnight camps canceled because of the upgrade.  Those of you who were scheduled to come on one of the August or September Overnight Camps will have two options.  You may have your money refunded or you may choose to receive a gift certificate for one Overnight Camp to be redeemed once the Center reopens.  I will be calling to ask  your decision.  

Field Trips

The Center will open for field trips as soon as the work is finished and we get the green light that all is well.  I anticipate it will be a mad house of schools and teachers trying to book their classes for the shortened Field Trip season.    

The Space Center's Reopening Day

   

This shortened field trip season happened once before during the 1999 - 2000 school year when the Center was closed for remodeling until the end of November.   That year the Center took one grade level per school (primarilly 6th).  Many new schools have opened during the last 12 years.  Hopefully some teachers will take a Space Center break this year and go to Clark Planetarium instead.

To be fair to all schools, a lottery will be held for the remaining field trips days.  Teachers, please visit the Space Center's website or blog regularily for updates.  You'll be told when to call for a field trip slot.  Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.  This upgrade is absolutely necessary and must be done now.  

Staff    

Addition information will be sent by email.  I will keep you all updated on developments.  If it comes down to spending your afternoons on the curb near the WalMart with a cup in hand and a sign reading 

Out of work

Anything will help.

God Bless

let me know and I'll be right down to help.  You take one side of the street and I'll take the other.  I'm also willing to help you dumpster dive for redeemable bottles and aluminum cans.  Please don't ask me to join you at the plasma donation center.  Needles and I don't get along very well.  We could also do some street performances to raise a bit of cash.  My voice is survivable, I just need someone who can play an instrument. I know Zac plays the guitar. 

You know troops, we could become real Troubadours, traveling from bus station to mall to train station performing.  I'm thinking song, dance, aerobatics, magic tricks and a few select readings from Shakespeare.  

Again, I'll send more information out by email and please call me at the Space Center during school hours if you have any questions.  We can get through this and will have better, safer ships when all is said and done.  

Mr. Williamson? 

What shall I do during the upgrade?  For the first time in 21 years I'll be able to live a somewhat normal life, arriving for work right when I should and not an hour early, and leaving at 4:00 P.M. and not 7:00 P.M.  I'll have my weekends free!!  I may actually see a movie.  Gee, I think the last one I saw was way back in 1990.  Are they still $3.00 for an evening ticket?  What will happen if I become accustom to a normal life, and don't want to return to a 70 hour work week?

I really like what this guy is doing and think I might franchise and start a conversation corner here in Utah.  I'm fairly intelligent and know something about most things.  I engage well and have been known to twist an ear from time to time with witty remarks.  Look for me outside University Mall on Friday nights between 5:00 and 9:00 P.M.  Who knows, I might get invited to join someone for a nice meal at one of the mall's restaurants.  That will save on the food budget until the Center reopens.  I'll be taking a cut in pay during the upgrade and will also need to find a way to makes ends meet :)

In addition to my Conversation Corner,  I will write another school mission and polish the ones we are currently telling.  

Let's not let this bump in the road get us down.  Always think positive.  All will be well.  

Now, join me for walk through the Imaginarium.  We need a laugh.

Something very Van Gogh about this......

Meet my nephew and niece.  They spend their summers in Hulett, Wyoming where

my sister and her husband own an old west museum and antiques shop. They spend the school

year in California.  

My nephew and niece run their own side business during the Sturgis Bike Rally in  August.  Look at their new sign.  It reads,  'Hot Dog's Soda and Water'.  Yes they have apostrophy in Dog's.  I pointed it out.  

"These are Harley riders, do ya think they're gonna notice?" was Draker's response.

I sent them the following picture to teach them the importance of correct punctuation.

They didn't get it.  I attribute it to their poor California education.

I love these three characters.

I love their town.  Mayberry is just the place for me.

Missing is my forth favorite person - Floyd.  I could spend 

hours sitting with him outside his barbershop watching the days tick by.

Finally!  

I get it!  

I wish I could say this to some of my student's parents.

It could be offensive and we would't want to offend the unruly child's parents, do we?

You know how much I respect humor in packaging.

This gets a 10.

Two examples of pure imagination in design.

Do I hear an Amen from the congregation?

We had our problems back in the day.

It wasn't just drunk driving you know.

What I do when I want to take life to the edge.......

OK NASA. Get it right next time.

Send the Google Earth car to Mars.  Geeeeze.

Its a no brainer.

Americans can't win.

And finally, a traffic engineers design of a bridge linking two

countries where they drive on opposite sides of the road.

Hong Kong (they drive on the left) and Macau (they drive on the right)

Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) Lands on Mars!

First Picture from the Curiosity Explorer on Mars. One of the rover's wheels appears in the corner. The horizon is curved due to a fish-eye lens on the camera.

"Seven minutes of terror" was a good prediction! As the Mars Science Laboratory hurtled from space into the atmosphere of Mars, ground controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA were biting their nails and anxiously awaiting signals from the sensors. Of course, since Mars is so far away, it takes about 15 minutes for the signals to reach Earth, and there is nothing the controllers can do; the landing (or crash!) had already happened! As the signals came in, though, each signal received showed each step in the landing proceeding as expected, and the rover Curiosity made a safe landing on Martian soil.

The JPL control room erupted in cheers.

You would have thought Neil Armstrong had just walked on Mars. But after all, it was just a robot. Then again, this was no ordinary robot! Unlike the tiny Sojourner, or the medium sized Spirit and Opportunity rovers, Curiosity is a big auto-sized robotic rover that will explore a good chunk of Martian territory over the next two or more years. Instead of using the inflatable bounce-landing balloon approach, NASA opted for a new risky landing due to the rover's size. When the re-entry shield dropped off, a large hypersonic parachute deployed to slow the craft's descent to the surface. Just before reaching the surface, the protective structure (Mars Science Laboratory) housing and protecting the rover (Curiosity) fired thrusters to hover above the surface. The rover was then lowered by cables below the MSL's structure. With the rover ready, the thrusters reduced power and the entire system moved down until Curiosity landed, and sensors on the cables indicated to the MSL that there was no weight on them anymore. With that signal, the cables released the rover and the MSL rocketed away from the rover site.

Curiosity experiment diagram.

The landing actually occurred at about 11:15 p.m. MDT, with the signals reaching us on Earth at about 11:32 p.m. MDT. Within minutes, as the cheering continued at JPL, the first pictures arrived as "thumbnails" (small in signal size) showing the shadow of the rover and the horizon of Mars. Over the next couple of days, color pictures and images with higher HD resolution will be plastered all over the Internet and television screens as Curiosity begins its exploration. The mission: a 2-year investigation of Gale Crater, 96 miles in diameter and what NASA thinks is the best chance so far to examine the geology of Mars searching for signs of past or present life.

The current Mars Scoreboard.

Lest anyone get the idea that this landing was easy, NASA published a "Scoreboard" showing our human success rate at sending probes to Mars. So far, only the USA and Russia have been sending probes at the red planet, and to show you how hard that really is, take a look at the score: 15 successful missions and 24 failures! Unfortunately for Russia, they have experienced nothing but failures. Rather than look at their efforts as cursed, however, it's valuable to realize how HARD it is to send a probe through 350 million + miles of radiation-filled space and land it or orbit it exactly where you want.

It's just that NASA is REALLY good, and they make it look easy.

By Mark Daymont

Space Center Educator

Spacerubble.blogspot.com