A Report on Today's Farpoint Voyager Club Meeting at Lakeview Academy in Saratoga Springs. The Imaginarium.

Hello Space EdVenture Fans!
     Our Farpoint Voyager Club held a general membership meeting today at Lakeview Academy in Saratoga Springs.  DSim's Casey Voeks and BJ Warner were our guest speakers.  Casey outlined DSim's goals for the coming year. He spoke about the company's growth, with seven ships currently in operation, another under construction, and several more in various stages of discussion.  He stressed that all companies must focus on their core values and purpose.
     BJ Warner shared several screen shots of DSim's new top secret simulator station controls currently in development.  Our cadets were the first to see them outside a few core individuals within the company.  Impressive is an understatement.  They are expected to be installed in DSim's simulators before March 1.

The cadets were given a tour of Lakeview Academy's Leo simulator.  A few of our cadets are pictured above just as they exited the ship.  Mr. Mark Daymont, a long time contributor to The Troubadour's Space and Science News section, maneuvered into the shot and conducted a semi-successful photobomb.  

     This picture of several of the cadets outside the Leo genuinely represents their 'cheery' attitude. Our Farpoint Voyager cadets are generally a happy, talented bunch on their good days and wild on their worst.  Today was an insane day.  Seeing a simulator you've never seen before fires up the imagination.  Young adults are pretty good at keeping the lid on tight.  Younglings like the ones above need time to chill.  We had to leave this bunch outside the ship until they chilled appropriately. I had them picture their favorite furry pet.  "See yourself holding and loving it.  THEN SEE IT UNDER THE TIRE OF A PASSING CAR!" That calmed them down to the point where we could let them into the simulator and trust that nothing would be broken.
     The more reserved of the group were inside the ship.

     The older, calmer cadets posed for their portrait inside the Leo while the younglings worked through my attitude adjustment story outside.
     I want to thank Dakota (the young man in yellow) for providing my pay for the day.  "I'm not paid a dime to be here," I explained to the cadets during our meeting.  "All of the adults you see here today do this as volunteers because we see the value of experiential learning and want to make it available to everyone."
     Dakota came up to me during the a break. "Here," he said, "you're paid to be here now."  A bright shiny dime was in his outstretched hand.  I took the dime and thanked him for the compensation.
     An idea came to mind. "I'm not paid ten dollars to be here," I announced to the cadets hoping someone would follow up on Dakota's offering and cough up a ten dollar bill.  It was a risk that didn't pay off.      

It was a bit crowded on the Leo's bridge but we managed to almost squeeze in.

      Casey was kind enough to offer a few special missions in the Leo for our cadets in the upcoming months.  Keep an eye on the blog for dates and times.
      The Medical, Instrumentation, and Engineering cadets broke off from the pack to meet with their advisors for the last 45 minutes of the meeting.  The rest of the group joined me for a tour of the school.  We were impressed with the school but wonder about some of the students.  Their ghoulish Halloween self portraits show truly twisted minds :)

  

      I got a kick out of this sign outside Mr. Spencer's door.  Mr. Spencer must have a sweet tooth like me.  We enjoy our candy and use it to motivate our students to work and listen in class.  Sadly, candy cannot be doled out to everyone.  Imagine the drain on poor Mr. Spencer's wallet - especially on a teacher's salary!

     Thank you to all the cadets and adult advisors who attended today's membership meeting.  Another is scheduled for December 13th so mark your calendars and watch for further announcements.

Mr. Williamson    

  

The Imaginarium

 

The Space Center Says Bon Voyage to an Outstanding Employee. Update on the Construction of the IKS Highlander Simulator in Pennsylvania. The Imaginarium.

Hello Space EdVenture Fans!
     The CMSEC said goodbye to one of its own last Saturday.  Michael worked his last mission in the Magellan before entering the MTC on Wednesday to serve an LDS mission to the Philippines.    

CMSEC Director, James Porter, wrote the following to sum-up Michael's career at the Space Center.

One word sums up Michael - Fantastic!  Michael has always impressed me as one of the hardest working staff we have been fortunate to work with.  Always diligent in making sure that he has followed through with assignments and completing the tasks he has been given to the best of his ability.  You can always count on Michael to be in a good mood and if ever he wasn't I never saw it and neither did the kids.  Unknown by most he holds a top position as one of our high kicking champions and he has multiple ripped pants to prove it.  We really are going to miss Michael and the people of the Philippines will be blessed by his loving and kind disposition.  Take care Michael and have fun confusing your companions as you try to explain what your job was.  

The Troubadour wishes Michael a safe and rewarding two years.

Mr. Williamson

An Update on the Construction of Dream Flight Adventure's IKS Highlander simulator  

Location:  J E Harrison Middle School, Baldwin-Whitehall School District — 129 Windvale Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15236

Flight Director:  TBA

Crew Complement:  17

Plan a Visit:  The IKS Highlander is currently under construction at J E Harrison Middle School School.  It will primarily fly missions for the district’s 6th-8th grade students, but it will welcome visitors from other grades, districts, and groups from the community.  Please stay tuned to our blog for updates.

Launch Date:  Winter 2015

History:  The IKS Highlander is made possible by the generous support of the Grable Foundation.

Shipyard News Leak

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Admiral Starblayze

Attention people of Earth, can you read me?  I’m broadcasting this from the Archeos Advanced Shipyard, where the IKS Highlander is under construction.  Security here is tight—I had to trick the SecuriGate Drone into discussing logic paradoxes in order to sneak into the air ducts and make my way inside.  The laser field was intense, but that’s okay, I was needing a haircut anyway.

Listen, I’m liable to be caught at any moment, but here’s what I’ve found.  As I suspected, “IKS” in IKS Highlander stands for “Infinity Knights Ship,” and the Highlander will be a Chameleon class vessel capable of flight through time and space.  It’ll launch with a crew compliment of 17, but this ship is huge—there may well be additional crew stations down the road.

Some of Infinity Knights’ top brass have been in an out of the facility lately.  It’s looking like a launch is imminent in the near future, if you ask me.  And that’s not all!  They’ve got some of the most skilled craftsmen in the galaxy working on the Highlander.

For example, check out Howard “Railgun” Langer.

He’s one battle-hardened pro who’s seen some serious action.  Rumor has it he can weld shut a tritanium alloy bulkhead blindfolded—with his feet!  He’s doesn’t say much, but you can tell by the way all the shipyard crew buckles down when he looks their way that he’s not the kind of guy who puts up with excuses.

Then take this guy.  No one knows his real name, but he goes by the alias of Paul McDonagh and his cronies call him “The Enforcer.”

Apparently he spent some time at the Spice Mines of Kestrel 7, but no one knows if he was a prisoner there or if he ran the place—possibly both.

“The Enforcer” and “Railgun” have been hard and work putting together the Highlander’s flexiplex frame and internal bulkheads.  It’s really starting to take shape!

But that’s not all.  I caught a glimpse of Pat “Power Surge” DeFrancesco.  He’s the mastermind behind the Highlander’s antimatter reactor core and power conduits.

And then, I dare note overlook Paul “The Overseer” Svirbel.

 Here we see him greeting the crew and bringing them the good news—he just met with “Management” and obtained permission to double the crew’s rations.  Now they get to eat twotimes every three days, which should improve morale and dramatically expedite construction.

Shoot!  I snickered at that announcement and they heard me.  I have to scramble back up the air ducts before they send their SecurEnforce botdogs after me.  Until next time!

The Imaginarium