Programming the True Christmas Spirit on the New USS Voyager. Devin Sudwicks Great Flight Director and Ship Whisperer. Space News. The Imaginarium

True Christmas Spirit as Programmed by Connor

Connor's Christmas Outfit worn on the last day of school before the break

   

     Connor has the true Christmas spirit. He is the absolute opposite of my preferred state of BahHumbug.  
     Who is this poster child of all things Christmas?  Connor is a senior at an undisclosed high school in Utah County. We keep a few things about Connor secret because of his enormously high IQ and his matrix ability to read and write computer code. There are a dozen or so governments worldwide prepare to go to extraordinary lengths to apprehend him for their own purposes. North Korea may have made an attempt to kidnap him at a local McDonalds right before Thanksgiving. Connor was in a long queue to order a BigMac with cheese when two oriental men in black suits shoved their way in line. One stood in front of him and one behind.  Sensing something wasn't quite right, and recognizing the distinct order of kimchi on their breath, Connor dropped to the floor feigning an epileptic fit.  The two agents made their escape mumbling something about how disappointed the Dear Leader would be in their failure to convince the Dear Programmer to return with them and live in a perpetual state of happiness in their communist paradise.

He was a hit at his school

     In his spare time, when he's not programming his own project called Skynet, Connor is a volunteer and programmer at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center.  He also drops by the USS Voyager at Renaissance from time to time to help debug a glitch or two in the ship's own system or install a set of lights in the briefing room. 

New Lighting scheme in the Voyager's Briefing Room

The Briefing Room lights set to match Connor's Christmas mood

   

Connor also tweaked the Voyager's Bridge Lights with his Christmas Spirit

Connor, Isaac, and Andrew basked in the lights and spirit of Christmas in Space.

 

     Thanks Connor for teaching us all how to celebrate Christmas by giving of your time and talent to help us create the space center magic for thousands of children. 

Mr. Williamson

Devin Sudwicks Tackles the New USS Voyager Proving His Talent as Both a Flight Director and Ship Whisperer

     Devin Sudwicks is a well known Space Center flight director who accepted the challenge to come and fly the new USS Voyager to both prove his skills and fearlessness. He knew the Voyager wasn't an easy nut to crack. He knew the ship's reputation to have its way with the brotherhood of flight directors. His kind arrive excited to fly the new Voyager and leave with their confidence in ruins and egos shattered.  

Devin Flying the new USS Voyager While Fortuna is Kept at Bay by two Awesome IIFX Assistants, Maeson and Jensen

Isaac checking on Maeson and Jensen's efforts to thwart Fortuna's scheming ways. 

Maeson and Jensen celebrating. They just intercepted a certain Goddess of Fortune's imp from crashing the Mercury system. Flight disaster averted.  Devin's mission continued. His confidence undiminished.

     I blame Fortuna - the Goddess of Fortune; the bane of my existence during my tenure as CMSEC director. For the last four years I was off her radar. Not so anymore. We are square in her sights with the Voyager poised to open the first week of January.

     Watch this short clip of Devin demonstrating his flight director abilities and his unique skills as a ship whisperer.   

   

     When all was said and done and the mission put to bed, Devin sent an email with several suggestions and comments. His insights were spot on and useful as we continue to prepare to open the Voyager next week.  He even offered to come fly whenever he wasn't needed at the Space Center.  Devin has his priorities right. We'll be happy to have his help whenever he has a spare hour or two.

Mr. W. 

Space News 
By Mark Daymont
From his blog: spacerubble.blogspot.org

Expedition 50 Celebrates Christmas in Space

Merry Christmas from the crew of Expedition 50 on board the International Space Station. Hope Santa has boosters to reach that high up in orbit.

The crew of the ISS is celebrating Christmas with light duties today, and getting some precious personal time. They'll be working on spacesuits tomorrow, in preparation for an upcoming EVA.

Japan's HTV-6 robotic cargo supply spacecraft is grappled by the CanadArm robotic arm under control of astronauts in the station.

Earlier this month, on December 13, the ISS received a new arrival in the form of a Japanese cargo spacecraft, operated by remote control, carrying supplies and experiments to the Expedition 50 crew. The HTV-6 blasted off from Tanegashima, and island off Japan, on December 9 and arrived on the 13th. One of the experiments on board is the KITE - Kounatori Integrated Tether Experiment - an electrodynamic tether which will eventually be developed to help remove space debris in the future.

About 8,000 pounds of equipment, fuel, batteries, supplies and hardware were brought to the station.

The HTV-6 was docked to the station's Harmony module, and is currently one of 4 vehicles docked to the station.

Currently occupied Docking Ports.

This is the sixth spacecraft of the current HTV design from Japan. There are planned to be three more launches of the current design. Engineers are designing the next generation HTV, designated HTV-X, which will use a service module for propulsion and allow for more cargo to be delivered. That launch is expected in 2021.

The Imaginarium

Merry Christmas to the Space Centers Diaspora. The Long Stretch to April. Theater Imaginarium.

Merry Christmas!

     This Christmas finds our staff, retired staff, and volunteers spread out from one end of the nation to the other. Rest assured that the Admiral Emeritus of the Space Center Fleet is here in Pleasant Grove minding the base and caring for his flagship Voyager. The many simulators are enjoying a well-needed rest. Each one parked, snoozing, and waiting to be woken by a flight director at the beginning of the long stretch to Spring Vacation.

     The Long Stretch is understood by the educational community. This labyrinth of time runs from January to April; a time only interrupted by a few one-day holidays. Teachers survive the `Long Stretch' by rationing their sanity and patience into weekly packages. Each Monday one parcel of sanity is opened and inserted into the appropriate mental slot. By Wednesday students begin sensing the supply waning - demonstrated by the teacher's quivering lip and disconcerting twitch over the left eye - a warning sign that something dark and sinister is bubbling in dark places. 

The Long Stretch: January to April

     Thursday is the bleakest day of the week. It marks the end of the teacher's working supply of patience. The well is dry. This is the day teachers may, when pushed, verbally strike out at children with unleashed swords of satiric comment and bullets of snide and degrading remarks usually referencing a student's demonstrated abilities. It would not be uncommon to find teachers sticking pins into pictures of their more challenging students on a special bulletin board kept hidden from public view in most faculty rooms. These board are cursed by a practitioner of the Voodoo arts at the start of every school year. The ritual begins with an hour or so of chanting accompanied by rattles, followed by the sacrificing of a chicken (the use of a living chicken has recently been replaced with the burning of a 9 piece McNuggets meal from McDonalds; necessary to satisfy the animal rights advocates in the educational community. Although not as effective it is less messy). 
     One is reminded of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem as you watch teachers gaze at the hundreds of pictures on the Board. The chanting, the rocking, the occasional weeping - it's are all there. Have you ever wondered why you suddenly took sick at school? Now you understand. It's our way of getting you out of the classroom before we lose it entirely.  I could tell you more but I'm taking a calculated risk sharing what I already have.  
     Friday's sanity is fueled by fumes only. 
     This is how teachers get through the upcoming Long Stretch to Spring Vacation. 
     Seriously, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. It has been a pleasure working with the finest young adults in Utah Valley this past year both in my classroom and at the Space Centers. I'm honored that you consider the Space Centers worthy of your valuable time. I wish I could give each of you a gift but considering the cost, I offer my thanks and, upon request, a good missionary handshake. Enjoy this holiday season with family and friends and be all the more ready to come back. I've got plenty to teach still and for those of you who work in the Space Centers, a reminder that there are thousands of children waiting anxiously for their upcoming missions. Remember, there is no magic unless you make it happen!

Mr. W. 


Theater Imaginarium. 
The best gifs of the week, assiduously edited for gentler audiences, minors, and the terminally offended.
And Merry Christmas to my Renaissance Students and Voyager Club!