Starbase Williamson, the New Name for the Flight Deck at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center. I Like the Name - It Seems So Familiar to Me :) The Imaginarium Theater.

It's all happening at Starbase Williamson.  Six of the greatest ships in the fleet launch from there:  The Magellan, Cassini, Phoenix, Odyssey, Falcon, and Galileo.  The food in the Staff Room is worthy of extending your stay between postings and launchings.  The restrooms are the cleanest in the quadrant. The Promenade is unique in design complete with liquid oozing tiles and multicolored lightning effects - all installed to add to the visual delight of our Starfleet officers as they traverse from docking port to docking port.  And virtually anyone who is anyone currently walks or has walked the decks. 

 

You'll find Starbase Williamson at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center.  

On a more personal note, I'm pleased and honored to have my name on the part of the Christa McAuliffe Space Center where the magic of imagination comes alive every day for scores of students, teachers, and our patrons who visit us for private parties.  The wonderful logo making the W in Williamson, along with the entire sign itself, was designed by one of the Space Center's own - Mason Perry.  It took several iterations and back and forth emails between Mason, myself, and James Porter before we settled on the sign you see.

  

                                      Mason, Imagineer Extraordinaire

The sign has a few "Easter Eggs" only a long time Space Center volunteer and or staff member may know.  You'll notice an "MD" a "DW" an "A.B.S." and a "LH" making parts of the Stabase's locations.  Think for a minute and perhaps the meaning behind the lettering will strike a cord.

If you haven't been to the new Christa McAuliffe Space Center it is time you did.  Come see a star show in the wonderful, state of the art planetarium.  Then descend down the stairs into Starbase Williamson to see the new starship simulators.  If you really want to relive your childhood and teen years, book a private mission.  I'm partial to the Cassini because that's the ship I fly on Saturdays. Jon Parker is the Cassini Set Director. He is bringing back many of the Starship Voyager's old missions from the old Space Center.  The past and the future blend together perfectly at the new Space Center.  

Ad Astra!

Victor

Imaginarium Theater

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The Story Behind the Christa McAuliffe Space Center's Planetarium Mural, Painted by Utah Artist Jake Songer. Imaginarium Theater

      The Christa McAuliffe Space Center in Pleasant Grove is once again displaying the space mural which use to hang in the old Central School hallway leading to the stage and Starship Voyager entrance.  For twenty years, Space Center visitors saw the mural either in the Briefing Room or the hallway. The mural was put into storage just before the old school was demolished a couple years ago.

     The mural's new home is the wall along the planetarium's exit hallway pictured below.  The mural's black frame took a beating during removal and storage but not to fear, work is underway to restore the frame.

The Christa McAuliffe Space Center

The Story Behind the Mural

The mural's story begins in 1986.  I took a group of Central School's Young Astronauts to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on a field trip.  While there I saw a beautiful space mural painted by Bob McCall on a wall just outside of the JSC's auditorium.  

Opening the Space Frontier - The Next Giant Step by Bob McCall

"In 1978, Christopher C. Kraft, JSC Director, commissioned McCall to paint the mural on the outside of the center’s auditorium, later named after Congressman Olin E. Teague of Texas who served on committees that oversaw NASA’s activities. In 1979, McCall spent several months at JSC painting the mural entitled Opening the Space Frontier – The Next Giant Step, illustrating NASA’s human space flight program, past, present, and future. He painted several JSC employees in the mural and used astronauts John W. Young and Judith A. Resnik as inspiration for two of the painting’s central figures. Astronaut Alan L. Bean, at the time a budding space artist, contributed by painting the astronaut pin in the mural. Dedication of the mural took place on June 19, 1979, and at the time the building housing the auditorium also housed the JSC Visitors Center, allowing the general public to view the mural." Taken from the JSC's website.

Upon our return from Texas, I challenged my Central School Young Astronauts to recreate the mural on butcher paper for display in our sixth grade hallway. They accepted the challenge.  

A few of the Young Astronaut Mural Artists. 1986

Using an opaque projector, the young artists traced the mural from photographs onto white butcher paper.  Crayons were the paint of choice. It took a long time to get the job done but they did it and did it look good.  

The Finished Crayon / Butcher Paper Mural outside my 6th Grade classroom

The mural went everywhere with us.  For example, we had a booth at the Alpine School District Education Fair held at University Mall.  The mural was the backdrop to the booth. 

The Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center opened in 1990 with one ship, the Voyager and our classroom / briefing room (which the Odyssey and Phoenix eventually occupied before the school was demolished).    

The wall at the back of the Briefing Room became the paper mural's new, more permanent home.  It still looked ok, but was showing its age. It needed replacing. Hiring an artist to redo the mural was too expensive.  Having the Young Astronauts color another was a possibility.  I've always said that the right person will appear when the Space Center really needs something badly and that's what happened with the mural.

Let me introduce Steve Songer.  Steve is a well know Utah artist.

Steve Songer

Steve and I served together on US West's Outstanding Teacher Selection Committee in the mid to late 1980's.  Every spring we travelled together to various school's across northern Utah interviewing candidate teachers for the award. I spoke to Steve about my mural problem hoping he might have a solution.  He did - he suggested his 17 year old son Jake might be interested in the project. I met Jake at Steve's northern Utah studio and pitched the idea. He accepted the project at a price I could afford and went to work.  It was the spring of 1992.  

It took Jake 4 - 5 months to finish the mural. He worked on it as his high school schedule would allow.  Upon its completion the paper mural was removed and the new mural hung in its place on the same wall at the back of the Briefing Room.          

 

The New Jake Songer Mural Newly Installed in the

Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center's Briefing Room.

The mural didn't last long on that back wall. That same year I raised enough money to build the Space Center's 2nd ship, the Odyssey. The Odyssey would occupy the back of the Briefing Room. The mural needed to move. I decided its new home would be the hallway leading to the Voyager's entrance. I had clear plastic panels placed over the mural fearing damage to the mural from the thousands of field trip students who attended the Center every year. 

What is Jake Songer Up To These Days? 

I reached out to Jake this last week to update him on the mural. He responded with an email: 

Victor

Wow, what a cool experience to get this email from you. I would love a picture.

I was 17 years old... I believe I finished the mural in spring 1993 but it could have been '92.  It took me about 4-5 months but only because I had little time to commit each week between school, athletics and work. Happy to hear that this artwork is still relevant and enjoyable.

Jake 

Jake followed in his father's footsteps and became an artist.

This short biography is from his website.

Jake does magnificent work.  Here are some examples of his artwork

Isn't it cool that the Space Center owns a piece of art done by a well known Utah artist?    

Please take a moment and enjoy the mural on your next visit to the Christa McAuliffe Space Center Planetarium. And if you're in the market for fine art, visit Jake's website to learn how you can own a Jake Songer original.

Victor 

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The Starship Falcon's Logo Is Released. See the Competed Flight Stations for the New Ship at American Heritage School. Meet a Few More of The Space Place's Young Astronaut Squadrons. In the "Things I Didn't Know" and "So That's How They Do It" Category - How Today's Space Center Starts a Camp Compared to "Back in the Day"

Hello Space Center Fans,

The CMSC's Falcon simulator has a logo.  It was presented on the Space Center's Facebook page.  All six simulators are logoed up now.  The Falcon is the one non-Starfleet ship in the CMSC's fleet.  The ship's crews get up to mischief on occasion, but generally are out to make a buck or two.  

American Heritage School's Starship Flight Stations are Complete

Alex Debirk is the director of the soon to open space center at American Heritage School in American Fork.  He and his high school students have been busy in the school's Creativity Lab designing and constructing the starship's furniture.  This week Alex announced the completion of the front two flight stations.

They are very Star Trek in appearance and beautiful to behold.

I'm excited to give them a trail run once the starship opens in January.  

Meet a Few More of The Space Place's Young Astronaut Squadrons at Renaissance Academy

Every weekday afternoon one of The Space Place's Young Astronauts or Voyager Club squadrons meet from 3:20 - 5:20 P.M.  There are 19 squadrons participating in this school year's program.  Squadrons range in size from 8 to 10 students in grades 3 - 9.  Meetings include lessons in astronomy and current space news, team building activities with Major Vidina (Renaissance Academy's middle school science teacher), and flight time in the Starship Voyager.  The missions in the Voyager are episodic with a specific mission designed for each of the 7 grade levels.  We call these missions "Long Duration Missions" or LDM's for short.

Here are a few more squadrons in our Young Astronauts Program.      

The 3rd Grade Lion Squadron

The 3rd Grade Dragon Squadron

The 5th Grade Tiger Squadron

In the "I Learned Something New Department".  How the CMSC Gives Out Camp Volunteering Positions

Back in the days of my directorship of the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center I met with the volunteers and supervisors before the start of every overnight, super Saturday, and day camp to assign camp working positions.  We met on the steps of the stage in the old Central School's gym.  At the end of the meeting I'd say "Loading Stations" and everyone would disperse to their assigned places.  The Loading Stations were:

1.  Friendly Door Greeter  (Welcomed the campers at the school's front door and directed them toward the Gym).

2.  Hallway Greeter (Directed the campers down the hallway to the open Gym door).

3. Gear (two were assigned to stand in the gym to show the campers where to put their sleeping bags, pillows, and overnight bags).  

4.  Signing In (three or four were assigned to sign the campers in and give them their rank lanyards).  

5.  Me (I usually sat at a table of my own and checked the campers names against the camp list before having them sit on the steps and wait for the camp to start). 

Yesterday I was the Cassini's flight director for a CMSC Explorer Day Camp. I got all set up in the Cassini Control Room and headed for the gym when I saw the volunteers gathered in the hallway listening intently for their ship assignments and start of camp pep talk.  It was a meeting I didn't know happened so it fell into that bottomless pit I call "Things I Didn't Know" and "So That's How It's Done These Days".  

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