The Troubadour

Monday, July 14, 2014

The Computers We Opened With. A New Cadet. The Space Center's Staff of Hidden Talents. The Imaginarium.

Hello Space Center Fans!

I found this picture online and thought you'd be interested in taking a look at the what we used in the USS Voyager, my first simulator at the CMSEC built in 1990. This Mac computer was revolutionary in its day - not to mention very pricey.

Apple Computers was kind enough to donate several. Each included the CPU, a keyboard, a block of a mouse and an external hard drive kept under the desk. Programming was the next problem. Personal computers were new on the market and nobody I knew had good enough programming skills to do a set of starship controls. The solution came from Apple. I was flown to Cupertino, California and given a weekend crash course in Apple's Hypercard language. I came home with just enough knowledge to put out a set of controls to open the Voyager in November 1990. Those controls are laughable today, but in their day, they were almost, nearly impressive.

We've come a long way baby.....

Welcome a New Farpoint Voyager Member

Troubadours, please join me in welcoming our newest member of the Farpoint Voyagers Club. Andrew is going into the 6th grade and recently finished his two mission observations. He is now a fully accredited volunteer at the CMSEC. In fact, just today I found him working a Magellan mission. He looked fierce in his Orion Pirate outfit with hand phaser. The crew didn't stand a chance. Welcome to the club Andrew!

The CMSEC has a Staff of Hidden Talents

Life is never boring at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center. How could it be with a staff as crazy as this?
I know there's a story behind this video. And to be honest, I'm not curious enough to ask. Let's let this video speak for itself.
If you like what you see, the CMSEC staff perform most Saturday nights at the Broken Boot Bar and Grill in Heber. It's a way to earn a little on the side.

The Imaginarium

Friday, July 11, 2014

This Summer's Leadership Camp Summarized. This Week in Science and Technology. The Imaginarium.

A Summary of the Discovery Space Center's 2014 Leadership Camp (for ages 14-18)

by Connor Larsen

And thus, Leadership Camp 2K14 (Usin’ my swagger with the year) has come to a close! It’s been an awesome opportunity to be able to organize this camp and carry it out with a group of awesome staff! Just a couple of things to report (just to know what you missed )

Day 1:
Definitely the most stressful day, things were finally coming together and honestly, I was terrified how they’d all work out. We started the camp with some get to know you games followed by a guest speaker (Talmage Gunther (LP QB/Best Friend). That’s what you get when you’re my friend, you totally get dragged into speaking at camps). After that, black ops began. Honestly, nothing too exciting or different happened that night…

Day 2:
Ha! So much to report on! We began flying this day. The first thing that shocked me was how amazing our command crew was. Within the first hour it was clear they knew exactly what they were doing and how to handle the story. Every crew member had a buddy, cross trained, etc. It was amazing.

As the story progressed they struggled in odd places, and thrived in difficult places. Definitely not what I was expecting. We continued flying as we continually got more and more tired, which made things THAT much more interesting We stopped the story a couple of times for lunch, water games, just little breaks to make sure they had focus left to complete the mission. We continued forward with the story and things were swell. By that night we had reached the point in the story we were all most excited for, and by the reaction from the crew, it was a hit. We finally went to bed that night getting ready for our final day.

Day 3:
Needless to say, everyone was exhausted. But we finished off the camp. Couple of things. THE CREW ACTUALLY COMPLETED THE ENTIRE MISSION! Which was phenomenal. I was very impressed. I was also very pleased with how they bonded throughout the experience. By the end they were great friends. From our side? We had a blast. We definitely had our ups and downs, but overall we had a great time.

Couple of fun facts:
Crew Death Count: 9
Total Papers Used: 208
Total Flight Time: 17 Hours
Tactical Cards: 200
Murder Mystery? Never Solved (By anyone but Scott)
Staff (That I can tag): Sarah, Logan, Scott, Nathan, Parriss, Casey, Brandon,Aubrey, Bracken-Lejana,
Special Guests: Tal Gunther, Christine Grosland

And this is coming from me. Running a camp for kids older then me, and trying to teach them was absolutely terrifying. But that’s the awesome thing about the Space Center is the way that you can work hard to get something done. I honestly think I learned more then the kids did. Thanks to the awesome staff that helped make all this happen!

Connor L.

Space and Science News

Science Summary of The Week
From Sci-Tech

➤ Autism gene: http://is.gd/jfkIah
➤ Stem cell-based corneas: http://is.gd/YMQOSZ
➤ Extended organ preservation: http://is.gd/97WeKH
➤ Gut cells into insulin producers: http://is.gd/VFw01q
➤ Consciousness On-Off switch: http://is.gd/lZSUhE
➤ Debunked Earth-like exoplanets:http://is.gd/CpZ92R
➤ Organic battery: http://is.gd/bgS79q
➤ Vaccines’ safety and effectiveness:http://is.gd/VCHSHJ

This Week in TechnologyFrom Sci-Tech

➤ Bio-Bot: http://is.gd/XjmmEB
➤ Braille: http://is.gd/WyxnRp
➤ 3D Print Blood Vessels: http://is.gd/5sI6mX
➤ $1 Adhesive NFC: http://is.gd/PVGNbu
➤ Indian Space Service: http://is.gd/hxLcIk
➤ Myo Hand: http://is.gd/QSpDcy

Russia's Next Generation Rocket

Russia's new Angara rocket has taken to the skies for the first time.

The Angara rocket — which Russia has been developing for more than 20 years — blasted off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia Wednesday (July 9) at 4:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. EDT; 1200 GMT), carrying a dummy payload on its maiden flight. The mission was a suborbital test launch only, and did not carry its payload all the way into orbit.