The Summer 2018 Photo Album of Random Space Center Shots Presents: A New Magellan Navigation System, Jon Parker's UnKempt State (Shocking), The New Staff Shirt and the Rude Way it was Modeled. The Space Center's New Pharmacy Open for Business. The New Lanyards and of Course - The Imaginarium.

Summer 2018 Space Centers Photo Album
An Album of photographs taken here, there, and nearly everywhere someone would stop and pose. I travelled far and wide, visiting the Space Centers doing my best to catch the staff and volunteers in their natural habitats doing what they normally do - only more of it due to the randomness of my visits.  

A Random Stop at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center
Central Elementary, Pleasant Grove
June 27, 2018

I attempted to sneak into the Magellan Control Room undetected. My plans were thwarted by James Porter's Big Brother Security Camera Surveillance and Monitoring System.  There are cameras everywhere. Walk into the school and you're spotted.  Using the latest face recognition software under license from the Chinese Security Service - experts in Surveillance as they would be with the task of holding the communist regime in power - James can spot you, scan you, determine your blood type, pull up your police record, and on a good day with a clear shot, give you the number of cavities boring through your teeth's enamel.  

Needless to say, I was spotted.  The element of surprise lost.  The staff and volunteers were seated, posed, appropriately busy, and perfectly smiled.  Regardless, I walked in and took the shot.  

 What surprised me was Jon Parker's neglected condition. Just look at this poor assistant director, hunched over his keyboard, focused on his mission, semi-delirious, dribble finding its way from the corner of his mouth to the front of his staff shirt.  The poor man - so busy with private missions and camps that he hasn't the time to see to his personal needs.  Look at the state of his hair!  While I would give my back teeth and the last $10.00 from my savings account to have hair like his it just can't be.  Sadly deforestation and an infestation of pine beetles have thinned my once lush forest of hair into a landscape of shrub oak and tumbleweed.  I offered to cut it while he flew his mission.  A deep guttural growl stop me dead in my tracks. I dropped the scissors and back away slowly.   

The Magellan staff and volunteers were clever and, using Constellation font, wrote the name of the simulator above the flight station. I think it adds a nice touch.  

What's really special is what's underneath.  We know how the crew of the Magellan struggle with directions especially when navigating their simulator successfully through a mission.  Well, to make things easier, the staff painted a map of the easier constellations directly above them.  That way, if needed, the second chair (or a tall volunteers with a good sense of direction) can track the crew in space through their mission using a thumbtack. 
"Computer, where are we?" the captain asks.
"Quick where are they," Jon asks.  
Lissa glances up, "They're two inches from Gemini."
Jon as the computer, "The ship is two inches from Gemini."  

You see, the Magellan's new navigation system is flawless in design and efficiency - a model all simulators should follow.

Matt Robinson Models the Christa McAuliffe Space Center's New Staff Shirt  

Now don't you wish you owned one of these classy new shirts?  Sorry, you won't find them on any store shelve or online.  Amazon eat your heart out.  WalMart, give it a rest.  These shirts are issued to the few, the proud, the deserving staff of the CMSC.  Not even I, the founder and former director, can weasel one from James Porter. 

Knowing that, Mr. Matt Robinson gave me a smile for the record books.  He could see envy written across my face.

The Space Center's New Pharmacy is Open

The Christa McAuliffe Space Center has a new pharmacy located in Mr. James Porter's office.  Where as before you needed to look in all the proper hiding places to find that bag of M&Ms,  now the pill dispensaries are on the wall in plain site for all the ship's doctors to find.  Where are the child proof safeguards?  Does the State of Utah know about this?  What about Starfleet Medical?  I don't think we need to worry about the authorities.  They'll walk in, take a look at the pills, then see that picture pasted above and without further questions, issue a license to dispense controlled substances.

The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center has a New Lanyard   

And just when you thought this post hit rock bottom in the relevant news category we dig a bit deeper and show the world the new lanyards in use at the Space Center.  

There you go. You're caught up.  Now enjoy the Imaginarium below.

Mr. Williamson


The Imaginarium

The Starship Voyager's First Summer Camp 2018. A Jittery Crew, A Klingon Badly in Need of a Shampoo and Cut, and the Mysterious UFO's in Northern Utah County. Summer Doesn't Get Any Better and There are Still Openings. Theater Imaginarium.

The Klingon Commander (Jensen Caldwell) with the Voyager's Captain working out Strategy on the Command Tactical Screen. The Voyager is one awesome ship!
Summer Camp One  2018

Hello Space Fans!
     Farpoint at Renaissance Academy held its first summer space camp on June 25-27: a joint camp between Renaissance Academy and American Heritage School in American Fork.  The camp was directed by Alex Debirk, Farpoint's summer camp director.  I should also mentioned in passing that Alex is the high school physics teacher at American Heritage. He's one smart cookie. It shouldn't go without saying that Farpoint has a gifted and talented staff of flight directors and supervisors - many of whom have over ten years of space center experience. Rumors are that one of Farpoint's staff has 35 years of simulator experience - mind you, that is only a rumor.

The Beta Squadron launching their bottle rockets on their science / simulator day at Renaissance

  The camp consisted of sixteen campers divided into the Alpha and Beta Squadrons. The campers flew a five hour and a 2.5 hour mission in the Voyager at Renaissance Academy and one five hour mission on the Dauntless at the Discovery Space Center at Canyon Grove Academy in Pleasant Grove.  The three day camp included a 2.5 hour STEM class taught by Major Larry Vidinha, Renaissance Academy's awarding winning middle / high school science teacher. The Voyager ran "Sleeping Giants," the Dauntless ran "Intolerance" for each squadron.

Major Vidinha watches as his cadets use a foot pump to "fuel" their water bottle rockets. 

Time to launch. Two of the braver cadets stabilize the launcher while the builder of the rocket
stands to the side to pull the release.

     Day 1: The Alpha Squadron arrived at Renaissance, while the Betas went to the Dauntless. The Alphas were "jumpy", a term used by Mr. Debirk. They saw death at every turn - a long, agonizing death; something Space Centers excel in.  When the crew first learned of a potential saboteur on board, they shrieked in unisom and darted to the back of the bridge, cowering behind the conference table.  Realize the crew was totally at their mercy, the staff took advantage of their lack of discipline and pounced on them. Two intruders were eventually captured and imprisoned in the brig. Spencer climbed up to the top bunk and hid out of sight while the other stood passively near the force field looking as if nothing at all was wrong. The Alpha security guard noticed one of the prisoners was missing when he made his next round. "Where is he?" he demanded from the standing prisoner. Spencer leapt down from the bunk startling the poor security guard into running for his life. 

The campers confer with communications officer over a miscommunication -
something that happens more often than you'd think from such experienced Starfleet officers.

     Later in the mission the plotting control room sent more intruders to the bridge. Once the crew realized what was coming, they did what most young Starfleet officers do, abandoned the bridge en masse and ran for perceived safety of Deck 2 with the vigilant and agile security guard leading the way. 

     Overall the Voyager's controls ran well. The Alpha's enjoyed "Sleeping Giants." As for the Beta crew, Maeson Busk simply said: "They were great!"

The Beta Squadron on the Voyager's Bridge

     Day 2: Alpha Squadron returned to the Voyager and successfully completed the last 2.5 hours of "Sleeping Giants" (a seven hour mission) despite the continued skittishness of the crew. Despite their overwhelming / ever present fear, the Alpha's solved the stickiest problem of the flight on their own. 

The Alpha Squadron at Canyon Grove on the Dauntless.

     Meanwhile the Beta Squadron was with Major Larry doing experiments with 2 liter and 1-liter water bottle rockets. The crew experimented, and by using calculations and a bit of trial and error they found the optimum amounts of air and water to make their rockets fly to dizzying heights. I heard from reliable sources that the Control Tower at Salt Lake International Airport reported picking up several UFO's in the most northern section of Utah County. Some teams got the rocket to fly very high indeed.

     After lunch, the Alphas went to Larry and the Betas started "Sleeping Giants." The flight team noticed a night and day difference with this second crew. They were quiet, focused, and collected.

The Beta Left Wing Officer on the Voyager

     Day 3: The Alpha Squadron flew the Dauntless at Canyon Grove Academy, while the Betas finished Sleeping Giants on the Voyager. One of the Betas missed his class and mission yesterday due to an appointment for stitches. His sister took his place. The young man returned on Day 3 with his sister in tow. She had such a good time the previous day that she asked to be added to the crew for the third day. It was good she did, she was the MVP of the squad as the First Officer. She took charge when the captain needed help commanding the ship. 

The Voyager Control Room on Day 3. All was quiet. Mostly. Alex was having difficulty finding his
targets on sensors.

     At the action packed middle part if the mission, the Voyager's controls completely crashed--Interstellar, Mercury, and the Main Server. Fortuna, the goddess of Fortune - a long time Voyager antagonist, was present manifest as a foul smelling vapor. She was up to her usual mischief. Luckily, the ship was so battered at that point in the story from numerous space battles that the meltdown worked perfectly to the story's advantage. We called lunch a bit early while we worked to revive the out-of-shape ship (hadn't flown in weeks, after all). Interstellar came back on, and the crew pushed through to the end without any control or hardware hitches.

The Klingon Arrives in the Voyager's Transporter Room. The Security Guard was unsure on
opening the door, but with me present with my camera, he had no choice but to find the courage
needed and open the door.

     All in all, it was a great camp. The crews had a good time. 

     Would you, or someone you know want to attend one of Farpoint's summer camps? We still have a few openings on the July 17-19 and the July 31-Aug 2nd camps. Registration is done through the American Heritage School's website.  You'll need to sign up for a VeraCode access number to register.

Theater Imaginarium

The Best Gifs of the Week from Around the World 

Edited for a Gentler Audience