The Christa McAuliffe Space Center and The Space Places's Last Summer Camps of the 2021 Season. Great People, Great Campers, Great Starships. The Imaginarium Theater.

      Two Space EdVenture Centers held their last summer space camps for the 2021 season last week.  The Christa McAuliffe Space Center's last camp was Friday.  The Space Place at Renaissance Academy held its final camp Saturday night.  

     Mason Perry flew the Phoenix.  He flew "Finding the Libertaria" (the last Phoenix crew is pictured above).  I sat in on the five hour camp.  Mason did an outstanding job.  "I want you to tell me how I can improve and feel free to give any suggestions," Mason said to me just after the mission got underway.  I admire anyone who is open to suggestions.  It shows they love their work and want to be the best.  Of course all flight directors have their own style, so it should never be "It's my way or the highway" but learning from each other is the Space Center way.  Mason was kind enough to education me on the Phoenix.  After all those years of listening to the Phoenix missions from my desk in the old Briefing Room I'm ashamed to admit I understood the ship the least of all the simulators.  Mason took the time to education me on Phoenix lore, methods, missions, and philosophy.  Only now do I fully appreciate the task of flying the Phoenix - a ship stuck between the big ships (Magellan and Cassini) and the little ships (Odyssey, Falcon, and Galileo).  My hat is off to Jordan (Phoenix Set Director) and his outstanding staff. 

     Connor Larsen flew "Ashes of War" for the Magellan's last summer camp.  He is pictured above with Audrey Henriksen (Supervisor) going over a few story details.  This camp was Conner's last before returning to the east coast for school and his second favorite job after flight directing - playing the organ for the local Catholic parish.    

     "Ashes of War" opens with the crew donning orange safety vests and boarding an unfinished starship two weeks away from its official launch.  Pictured above is Scott Wiltbank, geared out as a very laidback construction cleaner with hair desperate for a good wash and brush.    

     Working alongside Scott was Nolan Welch (above in blue), his custodial sidekick known to be dangerous with a vacuum cleaner in the performance of his duties.  Many a varicose vein has been ruptured due to his disregard for people's legs as he powers through a bridge with this ACME portable vacuum cleaner model 13B (pictured below).   

 

Connor teaching his crew how to properly use the Magellan's magnetic tracking map

     And finally, the formal crew photo for the Magellan's final summer space camp.  The Magellan is a beautiful simulator with a dedicated staff of teens and young adults who work hard to ensure every camper has a meaningful experience in their simulator.  

Just a few of the happy people who make the Magellan a magical place

     Pictured above is the final summer camp crew of the USS Cassini.  They flew "Greenpeace", a wonderful mission I wrote over 20 years ago.  To be honest, I'd lost my appreciation for Greenpeace as a good story. My attitude quickly changed over the weeks I sat in the Cassini Control Room working with Jon Parker.  His appreciation for the story grew on me until it was my turn to take the helm of the Cassini and fly the mission myself.  Now that the summer is over, and I flight directed the mission many times throughout July and the first week of August, I have to say that I once again really like the mission and am glad Jon choose it for the Cassini's summer camp story.  

                    

     I want to thank Jon Parker, Katie Young, Nolan Welch, Ian McOmber, and Scott Wiltbank for welcoming me into their ranks as a formal staff member of the Cassini.  I'm not always an easy person to work with when I flight direct.  I like to change things on the fly and add or take away story aspects to fit the crew or my particular interest for the day.   Of course I'd get looks of shock and horror as I played the Cassini like a crazed flight director on the odd day but they recovered quickly and rolled with every twist and turn I threw at them.  

     Jon was kind enough to critique my missions and in the end I GOT MY CASSINI FLIGHT DIRECTOR PASS FOR GREENPEACE!  All that is left is relearning my field trip missions and then I think I'll be an asset to the ship and a help for Jon who has been shouldering the Cassini all by his lonesome for the longest time.  

The last Cassini crew learning the ship's electrical panel

     This is Natalie Anderson (left) and her last summer camp crew on the USS Odyssey.  Natalie's love for flying, and the Odyssey itself, is perfectly evident when you watch her fly in the ship's Control Room.  Natalie is a busy person with school, life, and her writing career, and yet there is always time for the Odyssey.  She is another one of those amazing people at the CMSC who grew up attending camps and volunteering.  The craft and science of flight directing is strong with this one.  

     The CMSC's summer season officially ended at 6:10 P.M. Friday with the tallying of final votes, the announcement of the camp's top simulator, and the taking of the final staff and volunteer photos.   Conner leaves Utah with a win for the Magellan.  All that was left was the fat lady's song and the turning out of the lights.  

     The CMSC will be closed for this week for carpet cleaning and reopens on August 12 for private missions.  School field trips begin September 1. 

The Space Place at Renaissance Academy's Last Camp for the 2021 Summer Season.  

       I drove to The Space Place in Lehi to observe a part of Bracken Funk's last summer camp for the 2021 summer season.  The camp started at 5:00 P.M. and ended at 11:00 P.M.  It was a six hour telling of a version of my old mission "Supernova".  This adaptation was called "SpookyNova" and set in the FarPoint Universe.   Most of the crew were current or former Renaissance Academy students as were the volunteers working behind the scenes to make the mission awesome for their friends.   

     Megan Warner worked IIFX and ran our outstanding staff for the night (L-R:  Mark, Nathan, Italia, Sawyer, Isaac, and the CMSC's Scott Wiltbank). Scott graciously came out to help because Bracken was short a bridge person / doctor for the mission.  Thank you Scott for pinch hitting and saving the day.  You are appreciated.

     Even I did my bit to make the mission successful.  I briefed the crew on the mission.  After my riveting oratory the crew uniformed up, bathroomed and watered, and lined up in firing order for the transpod journey to the waiting Starship Voyager above.   

                                Bracken met them on the bridge and the training session began.  

The Final Summer Camp Crew of the Starship Voyager commanded by Jackson with Brandon as his first officer

Jackson patiently waiting for his orders to be carried out. 

 Oliver at sensors looking intelligent

      Better crews are hard to come by and this crew ranks near the top of the heap.  Of course I taught most of them as 6th graders so awesomeness was instilled in them.  

The crew as pictured from the back of the bridge

     The Space Place's Starship Voyager lives true to its name in what it offers a crew as a set and a flight director for story telling.  For example, this is the ship's brig, just around the corner from the ship's Bridge.  Notice the force field lights - activated with the small touch screen mounted to the wall.  Tap it and the force field lights come on and off - all accompanied with sound effects.  Cool? Right?

Voyager hallway signs as you exit the Transpod

Bracken and Megan mid flight.  Looks complicated doesn't it?

And finally, the large screen TV used to track the crew throughout the mission.

     I start the 2021-2022 school year on Tuesday with teacher inservice classes and classroom set up.  Students return to school on Tuesday, August 17.  The summer has flown by it they always do.  I'm looking forward to meeting my new students and getting the year off to a great start.  I'm also very happy to get back into the Voyager and Cassini Control Rooms to practice the art and science of flight directing.  It is a passion of mine if you haven't noticed.  Is there a better job on this planet?  I seriously doubt it.  

Victor 

The Imaginarium Theater

The Best Video's From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience

The 3rd Annual Space Center Olympics, Sponsored by Tyler Weight (Thank you Tyler!). The Magellanites Stuff Their Mouths. The Imaginarium Theater.

     July 29th was the date of the Space Center's 3rd Annual Olympic Games.  Unlike Tokyo's summer olympics, the Space Center's Olympics were not delayed by Covid.  They went ahead as planned, considering the VAST majority of the staff and volunteers have been vaccinated.

     Tyler Weight was the MC, Referee, Imagineer, Coordinator, and Sponsor for the grueling affair.  He wore his high school football officiating uniform for the event.  Our Tyler is a man who wears many hats in addition to his Space Center hat.  He is also a generous financial donor as was quite apparent in the number of gift certificate awards distributed at the closing ceremonies.  Everyone walked away from this year's Olympics with at least one gift certificate to a local business.

     Teams were fielded from two of the Utah Valley's six Space EdVenture Centers.       

     Brayden Lystrup led the Reality's Edge team from Canyon Grove Academy in Pleasant Grove.  

     The Christa McAuliffe Space Center was the host center.  Its delegation represented five of the Center's six simulators.  

The Magellan Orange Jackets led by the imposing Connor Larsen. 

The Odyssey Sockers led by the shaded Natalie Anderson.  

The Phoenix Blazers led by the Calm and Steady Jordan.  

     The Cassini Saturns led by the Visionary Jon. The "cool dude with shades" on the t-shirts is the man himself, Jean-Domenique Cassini.  He discovered the Saturnian satellites Lapetus in 1671, Rhea in 1672, and both Tethys and Dione in 1684. In 1675 he discovered what is known today as the 'Cassini Division', the narrow gap separating Saturn's rings into two parts. 

     The Galileo 007's were led by "M", better known to many of us as Brylee.  

     Tyler gave the "Call to Gather".  The athletes gathered in the  in the Planetarium.  There were no anthems played or a lighting of the Olympic flame. I was tempted to produce a lighter and hold it upright throughout the evening but thought better of the idea realizing how lame it would be and how tired my arm would have gotten after 2 minutes.  

  

     Tyler took to the planetarium's floor, welcomed the athletes, warned the overly competitive to "chill", gently encouraged a bit of trash talking to liven up the proceedings and described the events.  

     The first event was "Mixed Up Drinks!".  

     The teams took their places in the gym.  Tyler, James, and I prepared the foul abnormal mixtures of root beer, lemonade, orange soda, apple juice, and fruit punch in the hallway.  The brews were brought into the gym for the tasting.   

     Contestants closed their eyes and tasted the contents of the plastic cubs.  Afterwords, they huddled with their teams and wrote the ingredients from their sipping and sloshing.  Points were awarded for accuracy and the teams moved to the next event.  

     The 2nd event was anagrams.  Tyler displayed several anagrams of common Space Center words for the teams to guess.  Teams earned points for correct answers.  The third even was modeled after the old 10 Thousand Dollar Pyramid TV show from the days of tube television.  One person described an object or person, or event to another who had his back to the screen.  More points were awarded. Afterwords a few bonus rounds were held.   

     James Porter and I did one of the bonus rounds.  I gave the clues and James guessed.  We walked away from the event each $5.00 richer and to thunderous applause from our fellow competitors.  Again, thank you very much Tyler.     

    A simulator scavenger hunt was the 4th event.  Each team was given one of the Center's six simulators and asked to hid a candy bar in that ship so that it could be seen without moving things about. "What Could Go Wrong" was on Mr. Porter's mind when he again reminded everyone to mind the equipment and sets.  

  

     The 5th and 6th events were held simultaneously. Teams dropped small balls from the planetarium level to their waiting teammates on the simulator level.  The catchers were given more points for catching the balls in the provided glass.  Hand catching was allowed for fewer points.  The teams not doing the ball drop game played laser tag with Brayden Lystrup's very cool laser tag sets. 

     The Olympics ended with the point totaling and the point auction.  Teams tallied their points in the planetarium and then used their points to bid on gift certificates purchased by Tyler and kept secret in white envelopes.  Sometimes Tyler made the contents of the envelopes known but mostly kept them secret. The auction was fun. 

     At the end Tyler asked those who didn't win one of the auctioned items to come down.  They were awarded a gift certificate to local fast food restaurants.  Once again, thank you Tyler for your generosity.  

     I didn't stay for the traditional "Bombardment" war ball game in the gym.  I'm sure it was a true butt kicker as they always are.

The 2021 Space Center Olympics were a big hit.  Once again proving that the Space Centers are truly part of one big Space EdVenturing family, all started long ago from a few poster board controls in a 6th grade classroom in a galaxy far far away.......

Magellanites, First to the Donuts 

     Friday I dropped off the day's donut donation in the staff lounge, stopped to use the restroom next to the lounge, and then made my way into the Magellan Control Room to enjoy watching Wes do a practice 2.5 hour camp mission under Lissa's tutelage. I was surprised to see the Magellanit's mouths already stuffed with the pastries.  "What?  Already?  I just set them out a minute ago," I exclaimed.  

     "We're tired of getting the seconds. The other ships have been taking the best ones. Not any more," was their bold unified answer.  

     Yet again, the Space Center teaches another important life skill.  The early bird gets the worm.    

Imaginarium Theater

The Best Videos From Around the World Edited for a Gentler Audience.    

Enjoy This Week's Imaginarium Theater.

Imaginarium Theater

The Best Videos From Around the World, Edited for a Gentler Audience.