The Magellan's FAA Approved Runway Lights. Good Honest People Those Space Center Folks. The Imaginarium.

The Magellan Gets FAA Approved Runway Lights

     The Magellan simulator at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center in Pleasant Grove is feeling brilliantly blue these days thanks to newly installed FAA approved runway lighting.  Even the thickest fogs (or crew) are no match for these piercing illuminations.  It's a good thing the Magellan is indoor with a solid roof because if these lights were seen outside we'd run the risk of the Paris to Salt Lake City Delta Flight coming in to land on 400 East Pleasant Grove!
     I'm told James Smith has something to do with the lighting. There is talk of some assistance from others.  The facts are hard to divine sometimes when dealing with our highly trained and fearlessly dedicated Space Center folks.  Not wanting to run the risk of leaving someone without recognition, they'll simply feign a pesky memory glitch.
     The bridge is down right pleasing to the eye, but the Magellan's true pièce de résistance is the transition hallway.  Look at this.

     You saw it first on The Troubadour folks. If it's news, whether trivial or not, and space center related, you'll always see it first right here. Unless one of the Space Centers decides to post it to their Facebook page, then you'll see it second here. First or second, you can trust The Troubadour to bring you news and the best cuts of prime gossip.

Howdy Neighbor 

       

The Space Center Staff gathered for an evening on the porch

     Where can you go in today's urban jungle to experience good, trustworthy, simple, pleasant, and sometimes interesting folks?  Why the Space Center should have been the first thing to pop into your head.  They are as honest as the Mississippi is long.  They'd give you the shirt off their back if you needed it (parting with their earnings is another matter, which might take some convincing considering district wages).  

     Case in Point.   The other day I stopped by the Space Center to see how the summer was progressing after returning from seven days in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. I poked my head in the Odyssey Control Room and found someone's whole week's wages peering out from a handbag. 

     We're talking real American money, not that phony Canadian stuff.  Curiosity got the best of me so I went in for closer inspection.   

   

     Yes sir, it was definitely five dollars. Imagine what you could buy with five dollars? Taking that money wouldn't have been a challenge, not for someone with my reflexes and quick thinking. 
     No, I stood there grateful such a place still existed right here in Pleasant Grove; where the locals are pleasant if not downright jovial.  

Mr. Williamson

The Imaginarium

   

The Get 'Er Done' Team Works on the Voyager. The Imaginarium.

Hello Troops,

     You can't Go Boldly on Renaissance Academy's new Voyager II if the Voyager still has a few bells and whistles missing or loose.  Yesterday your friendly Voyager "Get 'er Done' staff was busy working on those pre launch odds and ends.  I stopped by the ship to offer encouragement, nod repeatedly while being exposed to lengthy explanations, use my eagle eye to assist in the hanging of the extra large logo bridge signs (mustn't be even a millimeter off), and treat Casey and his boys to a 50 cent cone at Smiths (the last of the big spenders). Actually, I should reword that last sentence. What I didn't mean to imply is that I bought one cone for the four of them to share. I treated each boy to his own ice cream cone. I'm cheap, but not that cheap.

This was the 'Get 'er Done' team's second try at hanging the port bridge logo.  The flame was four millimeters off kilter after the first attempt. Without thinking of wall damage, the sign was ripped from the wall. The velcro tape held as advertised leaving the adhesive to the wall as the weak point. 
You Troubadour readers will be the only ones trusted with a secret. Behind both signs are walls bearing the permanent scars of perfectionism forever hidden from public view. But you'll know, and must never tell or face the 'Get 'er Done' team.  

"Mr. Williamson, we can't do this without your eagle eye," they reluctantly confessed.  They held the sign. I stood opposite them, held out my thumb for reference and issued decrees.
"Two millimeters toward Kyle.  Stop, that was three millimeters. I said two. Do either of you know the difference between two and three?  Now let's get this right."  There was mumbling. I ignored it. "Back toward Alex one millimeter."  One millimeter turned into half a foot. The velcro was catching.
We started over.  I barked in numbers, they responded with grunts. The sign was heavy.  Eventually impatience won the battle of wits and we settled on a millimeter or two off of perfect center. It was good enough (another secret only Troubadour readers will know).

With the sign firmly attached to the wall, Alex went back to recording training videos.  I told him his time was better spent in the engine room and that I would finish the training videos. It was time for Tex to return from retirement and do his fair share.  I had every intention to record a couple trainings that afternoon but got side tracked by the cool warp core in the Voyager's engine room.  

The Voyager's warp core glowed in steel blue. Steel blue means resting engines. Resting engines means low radiation. An engineer can stand cozy with a steel blue core.  Red is another story. Too close to a red core and say goodbye to that beautiful crop of hair and white choppers.  Bleeding from the nose, eyes, and ears is common. Red is bad. Stand back when red. Call for a midshipman if repairs are needed on a red core. They're young and expendable.

Isaac O. working on a red core....... Best say your goodbyes if you're acquainted.

Alex Anderson is a long time, card carrying member of the "Get 'er Done' squad.  He likes to come and play with wires. I think he's doing something constructive and necessary. I could be wrong. Maybe all he does is come and play with the wires to make us think he's doing something to further the cause. I'm afraid to ask because his responses are in technobabble and I'm not too good with that.

The original Voyager Medical computer was on the scrap heap when the Voyager closed in 2012. It was old, abandoned by district maintenance (meaning they refused to service computers of that generation), and ran hypercard.  Not thinking we'd ever need it again, even I turned by back on this trusted friend and tagged it for removal. Thankfully, Matt Ricks saw something in the this old snowball and rescued it from the pallet of lost hopes.

The computer has a new home on the Voyager II's Sickbay desk.  It turns on - a miracle considering the last time it was powered up was the summer of 2012.  It won't run the old hypercard medical stack because it forgot where it put hypercard. I'm sure Matt will coax the reluctant program into revealing itself. If he does, we'll run the old Voyager's medical program. Won't that be a treat for you old timers?  

Trust the 'Get 'er Done' squad to get er done. We'll get the new Voyager up and running real soon. Don't your worry.  

Mr. W.

The Imaginarium