My assignment this summer, create a new universe for the soon to be built Farpoint Station at Renaissance Academy in Lehi. Farpoint will be the next generation Space Center.
My challenge is to follow my own advice and make the ordinary, extraordinary. To answer the challenge, I decided to write the universe as a story instead of a manual. The first two installments have been posted - this is the third.
Are you following this episodic introduction to the Farpoint Universe? I'm hoping the answer is yes, because this is what you'll be dealing with when you board the new simulators at Renaissance's Farpoint Station. Your missions will be evaluated and scored. The more you know, the better your scores.
Mr. W.
The Universe of Farpoint
Installation 3, continued from yesterday's second installment.
I
stepped out of the Lift into a two level, U shaped ship's bridge. The Lift was
on the top level. The Vanguard’s main viewscreen was directly opposite. The viewscreen was almost as wide as the Bridge itself. Doors were located on either end of the
viewscreen. The door on the left was the Captain’s Office. The door on
the right led to the toilets, staff room and conference room. The
bridge stations were two steps above the lower command level. The work
stations followed the U shape of the room.
The Captain, First
Officer, and Commonwealth Commissioner’s stations were located on the
lower level facing the viewscreen and the Tactical Display (TAC). The
TAC was a 7 foot long holographic 3D image generator. The TAC was displaying a high
definition image of Kepler 62e. Text streamed around the planet’s image, giving information about possible landing sites.
The
MEPCOMM station was immediately to my right. The Vanguard, like all
other SpaceGuard ships, uses a Marconi Entangled Particle Communicator
for direct communications to Fleet Command and all other SpaceGuard and
Colonial Ships. The Marconi officer was scanning the light spectrum for
Genie or Hephaesti signals.
“No signals detected.” The Marconi officer interrupted a
discussion between Captain Villano and the Commonwealth Commissioner. She continued with an explanation, “That
doesn’t mean they’re not out here. They may have a MEP system of their
own.”
Villano looked up toward the Marconi station. “Keep scanning. They know we’re here. I’m sure of it.”
Villano
saw me. “Ladies and Gentleman, we have a Troubadour reporter with us,”
Villano turned toward his senior staff. “Answer his questions. We’re
making history today and Fleet Command wants to share it with the
taxpayers.” He stopped and faced me. “Feel free to walk around and ask
questions. We’re about to launch our first probes to 62e.”
Villano
returned to his discussion with the Commissioner. The TAC
had changed. It was displaying an atmospheric scan of 62e. I noticed
the oxygen levels were high, a good sign for colonization.
I stood next to the Marconi officer. She was scanning the spectrum with her flashscreen. “You said something
about the Hephaesti," I asked. "I didn't think they were interested in the Outlands.”
“New intell,” she spoke softly, not sure exactly what the Captain meant when he said to answer all her questions. “Could be a real problem for the Genies and for us.”
“The Hephaesti are androids. They can live almost anywhere, so why Kepler 62e?”
The Marconi officer's hands moved rapidly across her screen as she spoke. “If the Genies are interested in Kepler 62, they are interested in Kepler 62. They'll follow the Genies anywhere."
She tapped her screen
to zoom in on a suspected signal, pausing only long enough to examine
the spectrum before swiping the information away with a wave of her
hand.
“Listen, the Hephaesti are a bigger pain in the butt to the
Genies than to us. We annoy them, the Olympians threaten their survival.”
A yellow flash from the TAC caught my eye. Yellow probe trajectories were moving across the holographic image of planet 62e, occupying the captain and first officer’s attention.
“This
isn’t right.” The Marconi officer’s voice was focused. I looked down at her flashscreen. Her hand hovered above two red wave patterns. “Captain, I
found what I think is a Genie signal coming from Kepler 62f.”
“Entangled?”
Villano asked as he moved his hand over his controls. The TAC image of Kepler 62e transitioned into the ice world of Kepler 62f. The red communication wave skimmed across the planet's north pole towards the Vanguard.
The Marconi officer answered. “No Sir. It’s a standard Geni radio signal. Scrambled and directed towards us.”
“But not for us?”
“No sir. Not for us.”
Villano looked at his first officer. “Opinion?”
“Fighters,” Commander O’Connor’s response could have been interrupted as either a question or a statement.
“Alert Stations!” Villano tapped his screen. The Vanguard’s Klaxons rang as the Bridge lights changed from pleasant to bright red.
To Be Continued.....
Dream Flight Adventures, our Sister Center in Pennsylvania, did a Write Up on My Retirement
Thirty years ago something happened that would ultimately change thousands upon thousands of lives: Victor Williamson took a job at Central Elementary School in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
Out of Victor’s vision and imagination, the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center emerged and uplifted more than 300,000 students. I was one of those students, and my experiences at the Space Center had such a profound effect on me that I’ve spent most of my life since then carrying on the Space Center’s magical legacy through Dream Flight Adventures. Read More
Dream Flight Adventures is in the News
Memorial Day is to Honor Those Who Served
Ronald Reagan
McKinsey report: 12 disruptive technologies that will transform life, business, and the global economy
Read More
Another big Asteroid Will Come Uncomfortably Close
A big asteroid will cruise by Earth at the end of the month, making its closest approach to our planet for at least the next two centuries.
The May 31 flyby of asteroid 1998 QE2, which is about 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers) long, poses no threat to Earth. The space rock will come within 3.6 million miles (5.8 million km) of our planet — about 15 times the distance separating Earth and the moon, researchers say.
The Space Center's Very Own Wyatt Lenhart and Megan Warner Star in "Star Trek Continues"
Megan was in Arizona filming a new episode for this online fan series. The first episode went online yesterday. Wyatt plays Chekov. Watch and enjoy a new classic Trek episode.
Wyatt Lenhart plays Chekov (right)
Something to remind people of whenever they accuse you of sitting around doing nothing......
New Discovery. Why we Can't Remember Anything Earlier than 3 Years Old.
Scientists -- and parents -- have long wondered why we don’t remember anything that happened before age 3. As all parents know, no matter how momentous an event is in a toddler’s life, the memory soon drifts away and within months there isn’t even a wisp of it left.
Now a new study shows that “infantile amnesia” may be due to the rapid growth of nerve cells in the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for filing new experiences into long-term memory. The study was presented Friday at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience.
Read More
The Imaginarium.
Make the ordinary, Extraordinary
Useless Inventions. Creative, but Useless
First the Avengers, Now its the Villains Turn.
Scumbag Parent.
Politicians?
Happens all too often
Creative Marketing
What every self respecting bathroom should have.
Not Imaginarium Worthy
