Where is this? A Space Center Mystery for our Younglings.

Hello Troops,
How about a blast from the past?
Many of you younglings to the Space Center are rubbing your eyes in wonderment at this picture. You’re texting each other seeking the answer. What is this room? Where is it located? Is there a simulator at the Space Center hidden away behind some fake wall? Is this like Disneyland’s Club 33. A place for ‘special’ guests. A place where the Space Center reserves its best stories for preferred clients? If so, you’d like to know the requirements to get membership wouldn’t you?

Let me answer your questions and put you out of your misery. No, there isn’t a secret simulator hidden away somewhere at Central School. No, we don’t have a Club 33 where members pay thousands of dollars a year for membership. I wish there was but our Club 33 would be named 33 because of the price we could get away with charging for our memberships - $33.00 :)

So now that we’ve dispensed with that possibility, let’s look at the clues. It is a room with stadium seating and computers. Now think carefully. What simulator at the Space Center resembles the one you see here?

Yes, its the Magellan. The original Magellan from years past.
I’m the dashing young man at the front of the room doing what I do best - talking. If allowed I tend to hog the conversation in any room. My magnetism and gravity (attributed to my larger than average mass) draws people’s attention like water falling toward the drain in the bathtub. I like to think everything I say is interesting, although I fear the reason they are all so enraptured with my prose is my position as their boss.

sigh......

The person standing against the wall in the green shirt is Kyle Herring. Lorraine Houston sits to his right in pink. Lets see if you can pick out some of the other staff pictured.

Megan Warner?
Metta Smith?
Dustin Robinson?
Scott Slaugh?
Dave Wall?
Bryson Lystrup?
Brady Young?
Julie Billings?
Landon Hemsley?

The old Magellan went extinct about four years ago. Out of the ashes rose our new Magellan. I admit there are times I miss the old simulator. It had a charm of its own. Don’t you just dig those strawberry iMacs? Groovy is the word that comes to mind.
But, we are all happy with the new and improved Magellan. Less colorful than the original but easier to operate and easier on the eye.

Mr. Williamson

STS-128: Spacewalk.

Preparing to lock down the ammonia tank in Discovery's cargo bay.

As I write this the astronauts are removing the ISS Ammonia Tank Assembly from the External Truss for storage in the Discovery's Cargo Bay. Danny Olivas and Nicole Stott (Expedition 20 ISS member) have been out there for a bit over 4 hours now.

They make it look so easy, but it's the result of countless hours of practice and preparation. With the effects of Zero-G, the tank appears to move so effortlessly, yet we have to remember that mass still matters in space. Moving mass has momentum, and unchecked careless maneuvers could result in smashed bodies and torn spacesuits. There is nothing easy in space. But it is all worth it.

Along with the used ammonia tank, the astronauts will recover several exposed experiments and store them in the cargo bay as well.

Mark Daymont
Space Center Educator
Magellan Flight Director
http://spacerubble.blogspot.com/

Something Juicy To Save My Bacon.

Hello Troops,
There are times when I need special help at the Space Education Center. At those times I sit back, cross my fingers - eyes - legs - arms and toes, and pray the right person(s) will walk through the Briefing Room’s door and take the burden off my back.

This kind of divine intervention occurs more than you’d think! I like to believe someone up there takes pity on us poor mortals slaving away in our simulators and classrooms. Its either that or word spreads through the community that Mr. Williamson’s got that disheveled look of panic again and if something isn’t done quickly he’ll soon forgo regular bathing, shaving, and grooming until his needs are met. Well, several months ago I was near that state. My barber forgot who I was and flies provided that extra bit of air conditioning to cool me in the heat of summer.

You’re wondering what it was that put me in such a state? I answer with a question back to you. What is the cause of most of my problems? Think about it........ yes........ I see you’re catching on. I AM THE CAUSE OF MOST OF MY PROBLEMS.

Here it is in a nutshell. I started the volunteer card program in hopes the school district would give me permission to purchase rewards with Space Center money. I’ll wait until you stop laughing. ......................................
OK, got it out of your system?

I was crazy to imagine they would let me spend Space Center money to purchase modest gifts to reward our awesome volunteers but there are regulations, laws, rules and commandments scratched into stone tablets that forbid such a thing. So, now what? Volunteers were coming in daily and I was swiping their volunteer cards with nothing to offer in the way of redeeming their points. Sound like a government institution? Yes, after working for the government for 26 years I've got it down pat.

For several weeks I carried a pocket full of pennies to drop into any fountain or puddle I found. A penny into a fountain and a wish granted - Right? I stayed up late into the night out on my deck searching the skies for a falling star. I searched Ebay for a lucky rabbit’s foot someone had no further use for and spent far too long in several fields on my belly looking for a four leaf clover. The result of my quest? Nothing......

Then, one dark and stormy night a knock was hear on my chamber door. Standing in the dark stood a figure. His face was lit by the light of a single candle protected against the wind by a glass lantern. In his hand - a plastic bag.
“Compliments of Juicy Development,” said the cloaked stranger. “Continue your endeavors and your vassals will be rewarded with more.”

He turned and disappeared into the dark. A moment later I heard a horse galloping away down the lane.

Juicy Development creates applications for mobile phones (iPhone and Google’s Android). Their top iPhone applications are Talk Radio and Police Scanner. Both are top sellers on iTunes. By the way, Juicy Development is always looking for good employees, especially anyone that can program in Cocoa (Apple’s iPhone language). Contact me for further information.

Folks, I want to thank the following people from Juicy Development for pulling me from the brink by providing hundreds of dollars worth of volunteer rewards for your volunteer points (yes - those iTunes cards you all pant over).

Todd Hadley
CEO of Juicy Development. Red Cross Volunteer. Parent of two Space Center Volunteers. Scholar. Gentleman and a Good Judge of Horse Flesh.
Todd is a man that never met a computer he didn’t like. He is a friend of the Space Center and has made us the primary beneficiary of Juicy Development’s philanthropic donations.

Brent Anderson
Vice President of Development. (On temporary leave of absence while serving an LDS mission in the Czech Republic).

Kyle Herring
Product Manager for Juicy’s top two Apps: Talk Radio and Police Scanner.
Kyle has spent more money than I want to know to help the Space Center finish the Galileo simulator (and countless other things). A volunteer at the Center in his spare time and responsible for simulator design and construction since he was a real youngling.

Thank you.

And now troops, I can rest at night knowing that someone has my back concerning the rewards program.

Now, if anyone else works for a company that would be kind and generous enough to provide products for our volunteers as rewards for their work at the Space Center please let me know. We will take anything from candy, cookies, to movie tickets to gift cards to whatever. I can even give you an in kind donation slip from the Alpine Foundation so the product can be written off your taxes. You see - everyone wins.

And now I’m off to take a nice warm bath to relieve my aching bones. After that, I’m thinking of a British Comedy. After that I’ll sit and think for awhile and come up with something new to get me into trouble. Soon I'll be looking skyward for another shooting star.....

Mr. Williamson