The Troubadour

Friday, March 8, 2013

Casey Voeks Stricken. Discovery Space Center News. Space Center News. The Imaginarium

Discovery Space Center News.
Pleasant Grove

Casey and the Giant Blueberry.
Discovery Space Center Director Casey Voeks awoke this morning to find a giant blueberry growing out of the floor of one of Stonegate's large reception halls. This photo was taken the moment of discovery. He looked the same hours later. Concerned that their Director may have PFS (Permanent Facial Shock), Discovery Space Center staff rushed him to the emergency room where doctors spent most of last night trying to unlock his jaw and loosen his cramped facial muscles. As of this posting, doctors have successfully wired his jaw shut and are now focused on saving his eyesight (he hasn't blinked since yesterday morning).
The Troubadour will keep you updated on his condition.

In other news, The Troubadour is pleased to report that work on the Discovery Space Center, Utah's newest Space Education Center modeled after The Space Center at Central School, is on target for its March 18th opening.

"We finish work on the simulators by 7:00 P.M. Friday night or we burn the place down," said one of the Center's Asst. Directors. The Center's staff have been working ridiculous numbers of hours in a mad rush to get the Discovery Center open.

"We want the Space Center's fans to know that we will be open on time and will be ready to offer them an awesome Space Center experience - just like the ones they had at the Space Center," said Casey Voeks before discovering the giant blueberry and losing his ability to speak and blink.

In Other News

The Discovery Space Center has taken delivery of a new Digitarium Inflatable Planetarium. The $37,000, state of the art, portable planetarium will greatly enhance the DSC's field trip experience.

Of course, Fortuna has had something to say on the matter. The case carrying the projector was found damaged. The projector itself is cracked and the computer failed to start. The DSC staff have contacted the company. A new system will be sent and delievered in time for the DSC's March 18th opening.
Fortuna, the Goddess of Fortune, is in another of her mischievous states.

March 12. Decision Day

The Alpine School District Building Rental Committee meets on March 12 to decide on our Foundation's proposal / partnership. If approved, our Foundation will restart the Space Center's after school private missions, camps and classes. The Volunteer Club will start again along with the Center's Computer Programming Guild.

Let's hope for the best.

The Imaginarium.
Why settle for ordinary, when a little imagination and elbow grease can make it Extraordinary!

Somethings in life will always be out of reach.

The Dyson Airblade.

It really dries your hands.

Engineering: A

We're getting closer and closer.

Imagination: A

Street Art of the 3rd Kind.

Amen.

This is the kind of kid teacher's always seem to pick to play a Space Center Security Officer. .

How about a little light reading for the weekend?

Shouldn't every car be like this for the long road trips?

Creativity: A

I'll bet you could sell a few of these at the next school fair.

Imagination: A-

So, its that easy?

Wow. If only I'd found this guide earlier.

The Transformer Couch.

Imagination: A

Comfort: C

Someone said this to me when the Space Center was closed for

repair and reorganization. Its good advice - but it doesn't mean you should give up.

Don't even think about this for my birthday.

Creative: Yes. Big Seller: NO

Children's Museum.

Just because someone is offering you a hand doesn't mean they have

your best interests at heart.

The Solar System in scale.

Mercury. Venus. Earth (yes the tiny pea). Mars. Jupiter. Saturn. Uranus. Neptune.

A child's dream bedroom.

Yes it is.

The Imaginarium tries not to be political, but this is ridiculous.

What is happening in our schools today?

An Adult's Dream House.

Isn't honesty refreshing?

Only the Space Center's old schedule and a Hospital Emergency Room could get away with this.

Creativity: A

Thursday, March 7, 2013

News from Afghanistan. Is the Big Bang Theory Correct? A Posted from our Sister Program in Pennsylvania

Hello Troops,
Our Foundation's proposal to restart the Space Center's after school volunteer program, computer classes, merit badge classes, private missions and camps has been submitted to the Alpine School District Building Rental Committee. I don't know the turn around time for a decision. Any news will be posted here on The Troubadour.

I received an email from Brooklyn Welch, one of America's finest, serving her country in Afghanistan as an army field medic. Brooklyn grew up with the Space Center in her blood; a camper, then a volunteer. Please take a minute and read her thoughts on the life of Afghan children.

Mr. W.

Friends and Family,
We've been stationed at a much bigger fob for a while building guard towers. This has allowed us to interact with a lot of the local children on an almost daily basis. They've taught us some pretty valuable lessons through our broken conversations. When they first came up to talk to us, they greeted us with vulgar language and hand gestures ( obviously taught to them by previous us soldiers), and all around hassled us as we went about our day. We, being the mature
soldiers we are, obviously returned those gestures and language, not about to be outdone in insults by an 8 year old Afghan boy. We traded insults for quite a few hours that first day, until finally one of us went up to the kids and just started talking to them like they would a kid back home. Instantly all the kids stopped throwing insults, and instead shouted questions about life in America, or as a soldier. We started making trades with the kids, and having them run to a local
village to get us nan ( handmade Afghan bread), or kabobs. It's been nice to be able to get to know the local population since we've been here, but it sure made us feel pretty stupid for all the insults, when with a few kind words, we made friends instead.

As we've started to get to know each other, I've learned a lot of interesting things about the culture here. The kids that have been talking to us range in age from 3 up to about 13. They spend their days tending to their herd of goats or sheep, and the oldest boy was very proud to tell us that he had saved up to buy himself 2 goats, and is planning to expand his flock as he grows older. We found out that a
goat her costs about ten dollars, so we all pitched in a few dollars so he could buy his 3rd goat. I think my mom would just about worry herself to death before she would let me run off at just 3 or 4 years old to tend to my flock all day, miles from home, but that's just common practice here. We also able to learn about the school system in Afghanistan. Pretty much all the local kids, girls included ( which
made us all proud of the work that's been done here in Afghanistan) attend school for one hour a day. In school they only have one subject, English. Had we not come to Afghanistan, those girls would never have been given the chance to go to any kind of school, but they can now. As I've interacted with the kids, its been pretty obvious though that girls and boys have very set places in society here. At
first the kids wouldn't barter with me at all, and instead told me to go get "the man", but they've warmed up to me since. I did entertain them quite a bit when, although all the boys were shouting " no, girls can't use sling shots," I shot a board they had set up as a target with my newly acquired slingshot.
As we've started to prepare for going home, I've come to realize there are a few things I will miss about this place. The kids, although often with very poor manners, are absolutely adorable. And, there's not a whole lot cuter than a little three year old girl, following a goat around with a stick. I'm also going to miss the nan. I've gotten pretty addicted to it in my time here. American bread just isn't the same without the extra dirt mixed into the bread here lol

Thanks for all the support while I've been here,

Brooklyn

Space News

Conformal Cyclic Cosmology:

You've all heard of the Big Bang theory (and I'm not talking about the TV show). It is the most widely accepted theory of the beginning of our universe. It essentially states that our universe was created from an infinitely dense, unimaginably hot point, before expanding outwards at incredible speeds in only a fraction of a second (we call that inflation).

However, not all cosmologists agree with it. Studying the cosmic microwave background radiation, Sir Roger Penrose, who hails from the University of Oxford, has detected several "concentric circles" that he believes were created through black hole collisions during a previous ages in our universe's history.

This discovery may indicate that our 'current' universe is just one of an infinite number of universes that have come before. They are created with a Big Bang, they expand, their stars die out and black holes clean everything up like giant cosmic vacuum cleaners. Take a moment to read the theory for yourself.

http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/sir-roger-penrose-alternate-theory-of-the-big-bang/

A Posting from Our Sister Center, Dream Flight Adventures, in Pennsylvania.

Of Roots and Branches
by Admiral Starblayze

Come one, come all. Pull up a chair while I spin a yarn about the roots behind Dream Flight Adventures™ and the other branches that have grown out of it. When I was just a wee little lad I had the special chance to attend a field trip at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center, not too far from my hometown. It was a magical experience that captured my imagination and never let go. It was that moment and the events that followed that eventually led to the creation of Dream Flight Adventures today.

But I was not alone in experiencing the Space Center's magic. Over 300,000 other kids took a similar journey. Some were inspired to become teachers, others scientists. Some have become actors, and some have gone on to work for NASA. And don't forget the large group of kids who grew up and have started families of their own, telling their own children about the wonders that await them in the far reaches of space and their own imaginations.

As for me, I couldn't get enough of the magic, so I decided to make more of it. I've spent most of my life learning the skills and jumping through the hoops necessary to create these magical experiences and to share them with a new generation of children, including my own. That's where Dream Flight Adventures™ came from, in a nutshell. The full story is much more interesting, but also much longer, and I'm afraid I don't have enough popcorn at the moment.
But did you know that there are others out there who are recreating this magic too? Oh yes! There's a new Space Education Center and museum that will be launching in the coming months.

Aware of the understated power of everyday people, the Space Education Center is filling its rocket tanks with the fuel from KickStarter. There's also an arts center that is adding a splash of simulator magic to its repertoire. Both of these—as with the Christa McAuliffe Space Center—are based in Utah, so be sure to pay them a visit the next time you're out west.
As for the rest of the world, who knows where the next magical installation will be? Maybe it'll be in your own community, and maybe it'll be you who helps make it happen. It's a magical journey! We love every minute of it, and we hope you'll join us for the ride!

Monday, March 4, 2013

My Slice of Humble Pie. A Comment. Space News. The Imaginarium

Hello Troops,

A quiet Monday at the Space Center; uneventful, except for the small slice of humble pie I had to eat this morning.

I dismissed my math class at 10:30 A.M. and made my way into the Magellan Control Room to work the A.M. field trip mission. Zac was well into his opening speech when I arrived. The mission was underway. I sat at the 2nd chair position, cracked my knuckles and started answering scans and printing messages.

I heard Zac confirm the crew had activated the Magellan's warp engine. That was my signal to play the warp jump. I pushed all the right buttons, so I was surprised when Zac told me they didn't see the warp field special effect. Devin popped into the control room and told me the same thing. I check the DVD players, there was no problem. The preview screen showed the players were working correctly - yet nothing was going out to the bridge projector. At that moment, my twenty two years of masterful problem solving went right out the window. Instead of going from the simplest solution to the complex, I immediately thought the switcher boxes were out, or something was wrong with the projector, or or or or - a dozen things went through my head.

"I'm getting Megan," I said to Zac as I bounded out of the Control Room. Of course I disrupted Lorraine's class. Of course Megan had already started her mission in the Phoenix. Of course she looked a bit annoyed when I told her to come at once.

"What's wrong?" she asked in the Magellan's Control Room Doorway.

"There is no picture going out to the Bridge," I replied. I had a feeling it was going to be serious.

Megan is well trained in the art of problem solving and did just what I had taught her to do. Megan started with the simple solution. She looked behind the switcher box.

"The video cable isn't connected to the box." Megan's voice sounded quite smug. She sounded proud of the fact that she had found the problem in a fraction of a second.

"I'll take two slices of Humble Pie," I muttered to myself.

I learned something today. I learned to follow my own advice.

Thanks Megan......

Mr. W.

A Message from One of The Troubadour's Kind and Intelligent Readers.

Keaton wrote:
I was just reading through this blog's archive, and I came to the realization that I've been an active reader for a little more than two years now. I've been reading the blog ever since the Space Center became important in my life, so I guess that makes this month, give or take a few, my two year anniversary as a camper. I guess that means I should just go ahead and say that I am absolutely thrilled that the Space Center is open again. It's closure was one of the saddest thing I've had to see. The next couple months after that felt like a dark age. There were very few days I didn't picture the five ships that I had endured countless adventures, and experienced some of the most spectacular, breath-taking moments of my life dark, in despair, and potentially to remain that way forever. I have watched the Space Center rise back power, and I think we have the potential to grow now more than ever before. I guess, in conclusion, this really is the happiest place on earth (Yeah Disney Land, you heard that), and we took a hit, but we're getting back up, and are ready to fight again. Let's do this!

Thanks Keaton for the Comment. Please Keep Reading!

Space and Science News

"In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a new kind of technology that would allow us to travel 10 times faster than the speed of light, without actually breaking the speed of light. Sound confusing? Well, the Alcubierre drive does not actually propel the ship to speeds exceeding light; instead, it uses the deformation of spacetime permitted by General Relativity to warp the universe around the vessel. Essentially, when the drive is activated the spacetime behind expands, while in the front it contracts. In this respect, the path taken becomes a time-like free-fall. The ship hums along in a little bubble of space, and neither the passengers nor the vessel encounter inertial effects." Read On

NASA-backed ground-based searches have spotted the vast majority of potentially dangerous near-Earth objects to date. But the B612 Foundation aims to join the hunt soon, and a pair of asteroid-mining firms hope their efforts also help keep our planet safe from marauding space rocks. Read On

J.T. Siems of Seattle-based perfume company Sweet Tea Apothecary has formulated Dead Writers Perfume, a unisex blend that “evokes the feeling of sitting in an old library chair paging through yellowed copies of Hemingway, Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Poe, and more.” The copy further reads, it “makes you want to put on a kettle of black tea and curl up with your favorite book.”

The Imaginarium
You should know by now that no one, not even you, may see the following inspired bits of imagination without making the promise to spend your life looking for ways to make the ordinary, extraordinary.