How Many Earth Like Planets are Out There?!! Fellow Daydreamers, Our Day has Come. The Imaginarium.

Hello Troops,
Interesting science news today about the possible number of Earth like planets in just our Milky Way Galaxy alone.  You know they're out there.... just waiting for the right moment.

Mr. W.

How Common Are Habitable Planets? Astronomers Find Billions Similar To Earth

The number could be in the tens of billions, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley, based on data beamed back from the Kepler space telescope. One co-author was so animated by the findings, he told The New York Times, "I'm feeling a little tingly."  Read More

Credit: Erik A. Petigura
An artist's representation of the 'habitable zone,' the range of orbits around a star where liquid water may exist on the surface of a planet. A new study unveiled Nov. 4, 2013 suggests one in five sunlike stars seen by NASA's Kepler spacecraft has potentially habitable Earth-size planets.   Read More

Daydreamers, Our Time has Come!

We are usually told that daydreaming is a waste of time and mental power, but the ability to daydream offers us tremendous flexibility in our daily lives.  Read More

The Imaginarium
Yes, I've said it so many times, yet you remain an unbeliever. The Ordinary can become Extraordinary with just a little more effort.

Dreams can come true....

An real and popular restaurant in China. This truly is weird but imaginative.

Notice what the girl is sitting on.

 

The 'American Pizza' in a Swedish Restaurant

Come on people, let Thanksgiving have its holiday back.

Biking to School, A Daily Adventure. The USS Glory, The Greatest of Home Simulators. Inspirational Video. The Imaginarium.

So that's how you look cool on a bike - short trousers and a pipe

Hello Troops,
     I rode my bike to and from school today.  That's a little over 17 miles. This is the point in the story where you say "good job" and admire me for my fortitude.  It was dark with pending light the whole way there and diminishing light verging into dark on the way home.  My trusty LED headlamp (an overgenerous term, I'm thinking a kerosine lamp hoisted over head on a long pole might do a better job) did its best to push the night aside.  Perhaps a fog horn would be a good addition to the traveling menagerie (which is me on a bicycle in the dark) for safety's sake.  Its constant and steady blast would be sure to warn anyone else on the Murdock Canal that an unsteady, unsure whirligig approaches.  My toes, ears and nose complained bitterly of cold; but I soldiered on, thinking of the great explorers of the past, who overcame impossible odds to achieve greatness. If they could do what they did, I surely could ride my blue velocipede to and from Renaissance Academy each day - weather permitting of course.

Mr. W

The USS Glory. One of Utah Valley's Original Starship Simulators

     A few months ago The Troubadour posted a list of simulators built over the last 30 years or so which ran missions based on my Space EdVentures model of interactive simulations.  That list mentioned a simulator built by Matt Long, one of the Space Center's long time and most active volunteers, employees, programmer and all around giant in the industry.  He built the USS Glory in his basement, programmed the ship himself and ran flights for public groups.  It all came to an end as life interfered and the demands of high school and the Space Center became too much of a drain on his time.  Matt is still with the Space EdVenture program, programming new controls for the Magellan simulator and working with me to build the Farpoint Cadet Program.
     Matt was kind enough to send me a few photographs of his simulator. The USS Glory ran from 2004 to 2006.

Matt's dad jumping in to help train a crew. This is the front of the ship.

The front of the Glory. Not bad at all for a home simulator!

The Captain's chair with the two side stations.

The Glory held 6 crew.

Matt at work in the Glory's control room.
 

      I'd be interested in finding information on other home simulators.  Please contact me if you know of any other small home ships that I could highlight on this blog.

Mr. W.

Save Someone and Change the Future

   The Imaginarium

The Ordinary to Extraordinary