The Great Space Race: The Finest Mission Ever Written and Told. Prove Me Wrong. From the Archives: How the Space Center Handled the Loss of the Shuttle Columbia Fifteen Years Ago. The Imaginarium.

The Cast of the Space Center's Greatest Story Ever Told: The Great Space Race. Summer of 1991 or 92.
Left to Right: Paklid ?.  Cardassians: Lora Barnes Wirthlin and Steve Wall. Russell Smith, a member of my
staff back in the day is behind Steve doing a typical Russell!  Curtis Kidd is the Klingon, Cliff Heath is the Ferengi
and at the end, Marla Trowbridge.  

The Great Space Race. The Greatest Story Ever Written and Told at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center

     It was a cold, wintery Sunday evening in the early 1990s.  Dave Wall, Mark Daymont, Bill Schuler and I sat around Dave, Mark, and Bill's Salt Lake apartment chewing over a few story ideas for the Space Center's first true 5 day summer camp mission.  This mission was to be the best. A mission to showcase what the Voyager was capable of doing.  Slowing an idea began to take shape which became The Great Space Race. 
     Creating the mission was funner than going on the mission. I've never laughed so hard for so long since the night we imagineered that mission.  It had everything: Paklids with Mark Daymont playing the Space Center's very first Paklid. That is where we coined the phrase: "We're Paklids, we're smart, we go fast."  The mission had Romulans with the evil Scacorus as their commander, played by a member of Logan's Star Trek Club who wore all black and carried a leather whip. Steve Wall played a Cardassian commander. We had a Klingon, a Ferengi, and others.  They are pictured above. 
     The actors wore full make up and costumes for every telling of the story. The campers were locked up inside the Voyager for five full days, only coming out for landing parties.  They never knew the true time. I took their watches as they entered the ship. After a few days they didn't know whether it was morning, afternoon, or evening.  The mission had full dinner theater with the campers eating in the Briefing Room with the characters in full character. The landing parties were fantastic.
     Landing Party One:  The crew travelled in time to Earth to meet Galileo (played by Mark Daymont in costume). They spent an hour or so with him drawing solar system concepts on parchment. They were with Galileo when he was arrested for heresy and testified against him in the church inquisition with led to his hour arrest. 
     Landing Party Two:  The crew travelled in time to Nazi Germany to meet Wernher Von Braun. They worked in his V2 Rocket Assembly plant all set up in the gym.  
     Landon Party Three:  The crew had to abandon the Voyager one late afternoon.  We had minivans acting as escape pods, waiting for them outside the gym doors. The vans had darkened windows. We shuttled them to American Fork Canyon (a previously unexplored alien world). They huddled around a campfire where they encountered a band of medieval knights who sang and fought a sword battle or two for them. We had medieval reenactors from Salt Lake City help us with that. 
     Deck 21:  Most evenings had a Deck 21 landing party into the darkened halls of the school.  Deck 21 was the code word used by the staff to set up a scary situation in the hallways.  The term stuck for years after that. "We're doing a Deck 21," we'd say to identify which type of landing party to set up.
     There are so many things I've forgotten about this mission, after all it has been at least 25 years since the story was told. It was before the Odyssey was built.  
     If you flew or staffed The Great Space Race, please send your memories of the mission for an update post.  

Victor     

From the Archives: The Loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia

The Space Center Journal: A Post from the Space Center's First Blog, Space EdVentures
February 2, 2003

The Crew of the Columbia

Hello Troops,
Today we all mourn the loss of the orbiter Columbia. I want to thank those that called the Center yesterday to tell us of the disaster. The phone rang all morning long. You knew we were involved in an overnight camp and wouldn't be tuned into the news. Thank you all for wanting to get that news to us. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated. 

I was informed of the tragedy at 9:55 A.M. as I was handing out Rank Advancement Papers to the 7th Graders from Lakeridge Junior High School. I was standing there calling out names while laying the forms out on the table when I noticed Lorraine and Josh had entered the gym. Not unusual for Josh but very unusual for Lorraine. What made it even "weirder" was they both walked right up and stood beside me. I guessed Lorraine had a question for me about something so I finished with the forms and turned to her. She was wearing her somber face so I knew something was wrong. I was bracing inside for news that some camper was hurt or something was broken or damaged in either the Galileo or 
Falcon. 


"The Columbia blew up over Texas as it was coming in for a landing at Cape Kennedy," she said quietly so the campers couldn't hear. I think she said some other things but they didn't register. My mind and eyes were searching for a smile on Lorraine's face. I knew it had to be a joke. Orbiter's don't blow up as they descend for landing. There is nothing to blow up. They are gliders! A second or two passed. I realized then it was true. Lorraine said something about the campers and should they be told. 

I wanted to get to a TV to do what everyone does at a time like this - look for answers. Of course, I had a job to do and so did the staff. Details would have to wait. I turned and walked to the staff to begin calling out their names for votes. Just before I dismissed the students I thought it best to tell them and I did. It went quiet in the gym and the camp was over. 

I want to thank the staff for their professionalism at the end of yesterday's camp. Instead of rushing off to watch live TV coverage - or huddling into groups talking, they went about the business of after camp cleaning and prepping for the following school week. Once the touring stopped I turned on the Briefing Room's TV. The staff came in, took seats at the tables, and watched as the pictures and information came in. Over and over the TV showed the orbiter disintegrating into glowing balls of white flame trailing white smoke. For the first time in my memory I didn't read the camp reviews. While the staff watched I tallied the votes. When finished I called out their names and announced the amount earned. The Odyssey's 11:30 A.M. mission arrived at 10:55 A.M. so Chris Call started it early.


I watched for several more minutes before deciding to lower our Space Center flag to half staff. I took the tool, went to the flagpole, and had a heck of a time opening the plate to get to the ropes. Several minutes later, with ropes in hand, I lowered the flag but couldn't find 
a way to attach the rope so it would stay at half mast. I gave up and raised it back to full staff.I'll look at it more closely on Monday. 

The Galileo's mission arrived at 11:10 A.M. Josh Babb was ready to go. I would have canceled our missions but how could I when people book them months in advance? We had a duty and our mission of space education needed to continue.

At noon several staff arrived at the Center for the Voyager Academy. The Academy started by watching President Bush's speech on the Columbia. The President did well, bringing back memories of President Regan's speech after the Challenger. I was moved by his quotes from the Bible and his voice telling the nation that the seven astronauts had returned home. 

After the speech we watched an episode of "Hyperspace". I thought it best to show the program called, "To Boldly Go". The thirty minute program talks about the future of space travel and the wonders that wait for discovery - if we continue to do all we can to support the Space Program. The Academy finished on a discussion of new forms of propulsion and light speed and time relativity. 

I went home for a few minutes after the Academy and found a message on my answering machine from Channel 2 TV. I returned the call and spoke to a news reporter. He wanted to come to the Center with a film crew to get our reaction to the tragedy. He told me he was aware of our fantastic program and what it does for kids in Utah. He continued by recognizing the Center was named after Christa McAuliffe from the Challenger disaster. He felt all of this was reason enough to rush a crew down from Salt Lake. 

I went back to the school. We cleaned the Briefing Room. Luckily there were a few staff left from the 11:30 Missions. The crew arrived and set up. Just at the same time the 2:30 P.M. Odyssey flight arrived - A mom with eight loud, excited, bouncing off the wall boys who had 
been waiting months for their mission. I gave Landon orders to keep them out of site. I knew the reporter was looking for a kids angle to the story and didn't thing 10 - 11 year old boys hoping to `blow up some bad guys' was what they were looking for. Landon took them into 
the Situation Room and did a good, prolonged briefing. 

I was interviewed first followed by Sam Brady, then Megan Warner, and finally Mr. Daymont. The Odyssey crew was ready for boarding during Megan's interview. I was in a bit of a pickle but necessity is the mother of invention. I had Landon load his crew through
the nose cone docking port of the Odyssey! (the hatch under the control room counter).
The day quieted down after that. 

This has not been a good school year for many of us at the Center. We survived the first half still sane. I thought the second half was beginning to look promising but this tragedy has dampened those hopes. What keeps us going? Love of what we do and the friendship we have for each other. There may be other storms to weather before we put 2002-2003 behind us but the hatches are secure, the sails positioned, and the supplies tied down. 

We turned the Challenger tragedy into something good through the creation of the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center.  I think we should create something to honor the seven 
astronauts of the Columbia. Let's think about this together and propose ideas. 

Have a Good Week Troops. Thank you for sharing your time and talents. 

Mr. Williamson


The Imaginarium

 

 

 

Renaissance Space Academy's Young Coders Club Launches. A New Record: 54 Young Coders in Grades 4 to 8. The Voyager Launches to Beetlejuice this Month. Wish the Cadets a Good Journey. Renaissance Space Academy Offers Officer Training. From the Archives. Imaginarium Theater

Ammon's having a great time learning the basics

     Early Saturday morning, 54 of Renaissance Academy's best took their future in their hands and joined the Space Academy's Young Coders Club.  Beginning coders got us off to a great start at 8:00 A.M.  With 34 enrolled in the Beginning Club, my desks and tables were full. I had to put five in the hallway. 

The Beginning Young Coders working on their music and sound coding

Too many for my classroom so five did their coding in the hallway

     The Intermediate Club has 20 Young Coders.  They meet Saturday mornings from 9:15 - 10:15 A.M.  Both clubs are using the GoogleCS curriculum.  Beginnings are enjoying the Music and Sound module.  Intermediates are doing the Sports module.

The GoogleCS Curriculum is outstanding.  The students learn from Google instructors by video,
then practice what they learned with their own SCRATCH accounts with MIT.

     I want to thank Patti Davis, Renaissance Academy's Office Manager, for saving my bacon.  Late Friday night, just as I was preparing for bed, I ran through what I had to do early Saturday to get set up for the club.  That's when I realized I'd forgotten to get the key to the computer cart. No computers, no coding club. I was in a pickle. Who ya gonna call?  Patti Davis was my Ghostbuster.

Charles is learning how to make his 'Sprite' perform tasks in SCRATCH

She assured me it wasn't a problem and she'd be there to give me the key at 7:30 A.M.  That is what I call going above and beyond. Thank you Patti.
     Helping me this year are two outstanding high school students, Alex Lyman and Livy Charles. They know how to code in SCRATCH so they handle the technical questions. I supervise, purchase the doughnuts, unlock the school, keep the class on schedule, and wander around the room offering praise and encouragement.  We make a great team.

Livy and Alex helping the Intermediate Young Coders group. The Intermediate Young Coders meet
right after the Beginning Club ends at 9:00 A.M. 

  
     The Renaissance Space Academy sponsors five youth clubs and programs: The Young Astronauts for grades 3-6. The Voyager Club for grades 7-8. The Young Coders for grades 4 - 8.  Farpoint Volunteers for grades 7 - 12, and Math Double Dosing for grade 6.  
     Renaissance Academy is a public K-8th grade charter school located across from IM Flash in Lehi, Utah. The school specializes in foreign language instruction and experiential learning.  It is home to the Starship Voyager simulator and the Space Academy.  Enrollment is open year round.
To learn more about the school visit the school's website, renacademy.org.

The Space Academy's Young Astronauts and Voyagers Depart Outpost 14 this Month
Aboard the Jumpship Voyager. Destination: the Red Giant Star Beetlejuice.  Purpose: Classified Under Orders of the Terran Expeditionary Force  

The 6th Grade Tiger Expeditionary Group for School Year 2018-2019

     The 200 Young Astronauts and Voyagers at Renaissance Academy are spending November and December launching from Outpost 14. Their destination is the red giant star Beetlejuice. All twenty squadrons are under the command of the Terran Expeditionary Force, the scientific/military branch of Terran Space Command.

       On most weekday afternoons you'll find a Space Academy squadron on the Jumpship Voyager's bridge working through their checklist. Their goal is a flawless launch. Good launches lead to good points and good points will take them closer to the coveted Top Team award.  

Space Academy Officer Training Corps

Larry Vidinha 

     Larry Vidinha is the middle school science teacher at Renaissance Academy.  In his previous career, Mr. Vidinha was a Major in the United States Army.  Mr. Vidinha has been named Commander of the Space Academy's Officer Training Corps, a division of the Young Astronauts and Voyager Clubs.  Every Friday afternoon from 1:00 - 2:30 P.M. Major Vidinha will take two squadrons from the Young Astronauts and Voyager Clubs for officer training.  This will include military basics like marching, leadership training, survival skills (in case of a crash landing on an inhospital world), map orienteering, giving precise orders, delegation, etc.  Think of the Officer Training Corps as a mixture of junior ROTC with a heavy dose of science fiction.    

Cadets from the Dragon Squadron learning how to parade in formation.

From the Archives. The Space Center Journal
What it takes to keep the Space Center running. 180 staff and volunteers make up the team. Mr. Williamson makes a big mistake on the overnight camp.  The Voyager is getting new chairs.  Goodbye office chairs. They are a nightmare.

The Crew of the Voyager. Summer Camps 2007

January 21, 2003

Hello Troops,
A quick journal entry for last week. We hosted classes from Barratt and Cherry Hill Elementary Schools. Our private groups came from Ivy Hall Academy in Provo.

The Odyssey Crew learn their stations. Summer camp 2007

The best news is that I had an office day on Wednesday! I reserve one day per week to do the Space Center's office work. Do you realize the amount of time it takes to keep the Center running smoothly? There is staff and volunteer scheduling (the Center has 180 volunteers and staff) and the maintenance of the Center's egroup and its databases. 
There is the financial side to Center operations and maintenance of the simulators and classrooms. We are working on the summer schedule and flyer. Once that is out -Watch Out for the incoming registrations.  Add to this mixture the fact that new missions must be written and produced. 

It's time for breakfast. It looks like the cadets slept well.

I have one day a week to devote to this and lately I've been giving away the business days to schools that registered late and cried and begged for slots . I'm not complaining - I do this to myself so I have no one else to blame for my circumstances. We have a popular program thanks to the work of many. Your awesome work and dedication to the Center has made it what it is today and that creates a ton of work for me. Maybe I should blame all of you for this! Naw - it is pretty cool though isn't it? A little elementary school in the middle of 
little Pleasant Grove has this one of a kind program maintained by dedicated staff and devoted volunteers. This is one of the best examples I know of selfless teamwork in action for a community's betterment.

Finishing up breakfast. From here, the cadets go to the gym to be divided into their simulators

It isn't often you see Mr. Williamson make a mistake during a mission but I did on the last overnight mission. I've given standing orders that all missions end by 9:45 A.M. on Saturday morning. This gives me enough time to give out certificates and have the student complete the questionnaires. Last Saturday we were rolling along with the mission on Saturday morning. I glanced at my watch and saw 9:45 A.M. and thought to myself that I had another 25 minutes. My brain was in total automatic mode geared to Friday night. 

The Odyssey Captain reading his orders of the day

On Friday we rotated at 10:10 P.M. The Voyager kids went to the Magellan and the Magellan kids came to the Voyager and Galileo. As the clock approached 9:55 A.M.The realization hit me that it was Saturday morning and the camp ended in a few minutes. You've never seen the staff of the Voyager move as fast as they did Saturday morning getting the kids out of their uniforms and to the gym. Nobody said anything to me but I noticed there were a few smiles on their faces. I think people like to see the boss slip up on the odd occasion. My staff have standing orders to remind me of the time - any time. 

An officer aboard the Galileo getting ready for launch.

We are ordering new chairs for the Voyager bridge. Those office chairs are not working out.They squeak and need constant oiling. They spin around tempting students to do just that.The spinning causes the back of the chairs to come in contact with the wood. That is why the furniture on the Voyager is missing so much paint on chair level. The new chairs are futuristic in design and best of all they don't spin. 

The forward section of the Galileo

Well, math is about to start so I've got to draw this entry to a close. Thanks all for another successful week here at the Happiest Place on Earth!

The Phoenix First Officer

Imaginarium Theater
The Best Gifs of the Week Edited for a Gentler Audience

See What the Starship Horizon "Mission Mobile" is Up to in Washington DC. Happy Birthday Space Center! The Space Center's Jon Parker Celebrates His Birthday Too. The Odyssey is the Best! Matt Ricks Caught Imagineering. An Alien Seeks Brains at the Space Center. Theater Imaginarium.

From Dream Flight Adventures. Musical Solar System Adventure Aboard the Mission Mobile

Posted on November 10, 2018 by Admiral Starblayze. Dream Flight Adventures.

Today we’re delighted to highlight some of the exciting events that have been happening in the greater Washington D.C. area with the Explore! Children’s Museum’s Mission Mobile (a.k.a. IKS Horizon).

We all have a favorite artist and/or a favorite genre of music. Music’s inspiration comes from anywhere. We hear its varied inspirations in all music from the symphonies of Beethoven to the contemporary hip-hop on the radio. But how does that inspiration manifest? How does an artist move from inspiration to a fully realized composition that lives in our car or, alone, in our headphones?

Mission Mobile explores that very question. In its music composition activity, students draw inspiration from our very own Solar System. Mission Mobile invites students on board to create short compositions based upon each of the eight planets in our Solar System.

Utilizing the same critical-thinking, imagination, and collaboration that our simulated missions require, students answer and analyze questions like:

• Saturn has rings made of ice. What does that sound like to you?
• Mercury is the smallest and densest planet. Is that a big sound or a soft sound?
• Venus’ day is longer than its year. Is that a slow or fast sound?

Guided by Mission Mobile’s Mobile Outreach Manager with his guitars and pedals, students build short compositions utilizing a plethora of percussion instruments. In just under ten minutes time, students go from nothing at all to the beginnings of a full planetary suite!

Recently the Mission Mobile took its musical solar system adventure to two different community events. Children at both Riverdale Park Station and the Shiloh Community Festival went on a journey around the Galaxy with opportunities to compose their own instrumental pieces inspired by the planets.

A Happy Birthday to the Christa McAuliffe Space Center from Lindsey Hatch

     Twenty-eight years ago this month I opened the doors of the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center to the world for the very first time. Much has changed since then. From one simulator (Voyager) to over 60 in 28 years.  From one employee to who knows how many today. From one Space Center to multiple Space Education Centers in many schools worldwide.  From one vision - many.  

     It has been a wild ride, and along the way I've had the privilege of working with outstanding children, teens, and adults. Lindsey Hatch is one of those outstanding individuals who made a difference at the Space Center. 

     Lindsey posted a birthday greeting to the Space Center on her Facebook page that I'd like to share with everyone today. 

     I add my voice to Lindsey's and propose a toast to the Space Center on its 28th birthday. "God bless the Christa McAuliffe Space Center and all who sail in her."

Victor   

  

A Very Young Lindsey in the Phoenix. She's all grown up now.

     I know I’m a day late in saying this, but Happy 28th Birthday to the Christa McAuliffe Space Center!!     Even though I may be far away in the tundras of Logan, this special place will always have a special spot in my heart. It’s been a wild ride, but I have been in love with it since the moment I first set foot in the Voyager 8 years ago.     I have met some of the best humans in the galaxy inside the walls of that space place, and I will always cherish every shared moment of bringing the Discipline of Wonder to life for our crews!      From one of my first flights to my last: I couldn’t help but smile and have a big thumbs up! I think even as a 12 year old, I knew I was part of one of the greatest programs in the galaxy and at the (2nd) Happiest Place on Earth!
     I’ve been taught a lot over the years through volunteering, supervising, and flying; but if I were to choose the most important and what I would want everyone to know when they come through our doors, it would be this:  “Inside you is the potential to make yourself better... and that is what it is to be human. To make yourself more than you are.” - Jean Luc Picard
     Being involved at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center has molded me and helped me to become who I am today, and I can’t wait to take my kids one day to one of the places that changed my life for the better!
     Happy Birthday, CMSC! Here’s to many more!

Jon Parker Celebrates his 28th Birthday, Born the Day After the Space Center Opened. Had I Known I Would Have Delayed the Grand Opening One More Day

I brought lunch to Jon on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He was flying "Event Horizon" in the Magellan.
Jon is sporting a full, thick, and long head of hair.  I'm sure he does it to spite me.  As we all know, all those years of
stress, worry, and sleepless nights running the Space Center have taken their toll on my once lushly forested head top.
"Lookin a bit thin up top," he likes to say whenever I comment on his overgrowth.  I've learned to shut my mouth. 

      Everyone in the Space EdVenturing business knows Jon Parker. He's been around for years and years and years and years and is still hanging around the place.  Jon worked his way up through the ranks starting as a young black shirt Pioneer to a Voyager then a Blue Shirt Supervisor to a Flight Director and now Assistant Director of the Center.  
     It wasn't a smooth ride to the top for Jon. There were a few bumps in the road. I nearly showed him the door years ago when he let a real smoke bomb off in the Voyager. Of course he wasn't thinking of the consequences - like the fact that my desk sat in the Briefing Room next to the Voyager's entrance. Like I wouldn't smell a real smoke bomb. His numerous "Get Out of Jail Free Cards" saved him that day. He burned through all of them in that one moment of glory but it has made for a fun story even to this day. 

Jon back in his volunteering days with Stacy in the Briefing Room.  Stacy is quite bored and exhausted with Jon and his enthusiasm. "Please," her eyes are saying. "Please find something for him to do.
Maybe the Voyager could use another pirate?"

      Another of Jon's 'bumps' in the road hit him in the head like a ton of bricks. It was the Saturday morning of one of our weekly weekend overnight camps.  He was involved in a landing party - rushing down the hall where the old school meets the new addition. Someone kicked open the double doors striking Jon square in the head.  Jon and I spent the next hour or two at InstaCare for stitches.  So many stories we could tell about Jon; some I know and others I don't.  Over the years I've come to realize there are many stories about the staff and volunteers that never reached my ears. Perhaps for the best. 
     Happy Birthday to one of my favorite persons, friends, and allies in this Space EdVenturing endeavor.  With James Porter and Jon Parker at the Space Center's helm, what can go wrong? 
     James, keep him away from firework stands and watch him like a hawk the first week of July.  

Victor 

"If You're the Best and You Know It Clap Your Hands.  Clap Clap."  And in the Odyssey's Case, You Show it On Your Trophy Shelf.
   

Saturday in the Odyssey's Control Room.  Tabitha and Mason are Flying "Heir to the Empire." There's an old
mission for you.  Notice the Space Center trophies weighing heavily on the top shelf.  The Odyssey wants all ships to know that it is the best, has always been the best, and will always be the best ship in town - bar none.  Natalie Anderson and staff are willing to fight anyone who says differently.

Matt Ricks Ever Tinkering with Bits and Bobs as He Imagineers the Next Generation of Simulator Dial, Switch, and Isolinear Chip Panels.

     Matt Ricks was found at the Space Center tinkering with cardboard bits and scraps on Saturday. 
     "I'm imagineering the next generation of ship panels," he said.  With the new Space Center's imminent construction rushing towards us, Mr. Porter has given Matt his marching orders.  Design the panels for the new simulators.  Design starts with hours of pondering, sketching, and finally building mock ups of those paper and pencil designs.  Matt is in the mock up stage. 
     The opening and closing panels are what I like about the new designs. They show promise and endless fun for the future ship engineers. I believe the Space Center's Engineering Department will build the panels. If not, Matt may have to step up to the plate. 
     Irregardless if whether or not the panels will ever be build, the cardboard versions are pretty cool in their own right. Hey, with a bit of lacre and paint, you could get them to look pretty realistic.

In the Just For Fun Category.

An Alien Hitches a Ride on the Phoenix, Reaches Earth, Attaches Itself to Victoria and Searches for Brians......

Cleary under the control of the alien visitor, Victoria snuck up behind Tyler. The alien sniffed and nodded in approval.
These brains will do just fine.

It was gruesome to watch so I snapped this last picture and retreated to the safety of the Magellan.
Magellan security arrived moments later to dispatch the alien. Tyler, while traumatized, is making a full recovery at Starfleet Medical. The alien was detached from Victoria and sent to the lab for examination. Victoria is resting peacefully at home
unable to remember anything from the previous day.

Imaginarium Theater