I salute Bracken Funk and his staff and Voyager Club volunteers at The Space Place at Renaissance Academy for their Junior Camp on the Starship Voyager.  Running a simulation using Thorium controls for this age group can be a challenge.  I speak from experience because of my work at Renaissance with the Young Astronauts Club for grades 3 - 5.  Yet, as challenging as it is, The Space Place team have it down to an art and science.  
     I stopped in to watch a mission a week or so ago.  Bracken was on the bridge and Livy was the Flight Director.  The Space Place policy for Junior Camps is either Bracken is the ship's captain working right with the crew on the bridge, or he is the bridge supervisor.  This ensures the mission will run smoothly (or as smoothly as the crew will allow :)

     Bracken spent time before the first Junior Camp retooling Thorium controls for the 3rd and 4th graders.  Some features are disabled to avoid needlessly long training time. That requires a different bridge control set up between stations.  I noticed that all of the campers worked their stations fairly well, requiring little assistance from Bracken.  
     The mission is fun and engaging. The young campers love their time on the big starship and are excited to try the big kid camps once they go into the 5th grade.  Although we are near the end of the summer camp season, there are still openings on the July 29th, July 31st, and August 2nd camps.  The price is $65.00 for the 6.5 hour mission.  Visit TheSpacePlace.org for more information.  

     The Christa McAuliffe Space Center offered four different camps to youngsters aged 3 - 9 years old; Art, Engineering, Chemistry, and Preschool.  Multiple camps were offered each week from June 4 to July 22.  These camps are always popular with parents and kids with most of the camps selling out. 
     I stopped in for a short while to watch Brian Dean, Kyson, and Benson run the Art Camp.   The three of them related well with the younglings.  The three all agreed that working the Junior Camps was fun. I didn't ask if it was funner than working in the simulators so the answer to that question is an unknown.  You'll need to ask them that question yourself.  

     Brian Dean and Benson monitored the room, stopping to help and answer questions when needed.  Kyson went from table to table showing the younglings pictures of different planets from a space book to help spur their imaginations.  The kids were having fun, and from listening to the chatter in the room, were all future astronomers and astronauts!  

     The Voyager Club's July membership meeting was held yesterday at the CMSC.  We met in Central School's faculty room. 
Jason Trump, Director of Clark Planetarium's Education Department and a Voyager Academy Instructor, gave an excellent presentation on asteroids meteors and meteorites.  

        As always, the meeting started with Bingo for prizes at 8:00 A.M.  We play for 30 minutes before the meeting officially starts at 8:30 A.M.  Bingo is a way of encouraging the members to arrive early so everyone is present and in their seats when the meeting starts.  The meeting was called to order at 8:30 A.M.   
     Conducting the meeting was Amberly Perry.  This was her last last official duty as our outgoing Voyager Club president.  Amberly was recently promoted to Phoenix Flight Director and therefore became a member of staff.  While all volunteers and staff of the Space Center are members of the club, the club's primary mission and focus is with the volunteers.  Resigning her position as club president is required once one moves into a paid position at the CMSC.  She received a good round of applause from the members.  "Amberly, please come to all the future meetings," one of the volunteers called out.  Amberly said she would do her best to attend. 

​     The first item of business was the new member introductions.  Four new members stood and introduced themselves.  A few are already in the Volunteering Group and the others are Explorers working on the requirements to volunteer.  Amberly turned the reminder of the time to me for a few announcements and then to Jason Trump for the lesson. 
Announcements:
     1.  A reminder to always shower and deodorize before come to volunteer was given.
     2. I reminded the members to get their volunteering requests in early before all the missions are filled.  With the end of the summer camp season, private missions fill up quickly with volunteers.  The early bird gets the worm - remember that. 
    3.  I spoke to the members about our upcoming AI and The Space Centers workshop coming up next month. It will be taught by Ben Murdock. Ben is a former Galileo Flight Director and currently works at Google in their AI division.  He comes to Utah several times a year to visit family and is excited to share his knowledge with us.   

     Jason Trump gave an excellent lesson on asteroids, meteors, and meteorites.  He brought his personal meteorite collection to show.  Everyone put on a plastic glove to avoid getting dirt and oil on the collection.  

     The most expensive item was worth $9000!  Yes, these space rocks are expensive.   My favorite was a meteorite from the moon. Jason let me know it with without a glove so I can honestly tell people that I've held a piece of the moon.  Not many of you can say that! 
     We are grateful for Jason's help with the Voyager Academy's mission  to Create a Spacefaring Civilization.  We are lucky to have someone with his background on our teaching staff.  
     August's Voyager Club meeting will be our end of summer party.  The Voyager Club Leadership Team will start making plans for that this week.    

Two New Summer Camps Available
    The Space Center added two End of Summer 10.5 hour long missions to the camp page. There are two dates available, July 29th and August 2nd. These flights are a continuous and immersive experience for our more advanced crews starting at 9:00 A.M. and ending at 7:30 P.M.  Bring a lunch. Pizza supper is provided.  Here is the link to enroll...
https://spacecenter.alpineschools.org/camps/
     Spots are limited and generally fill fast so don't miss your opportunity for these unique missions.

     Many people don't know about the Lions Gate Space Center (LGSC) located inside Lakeview Academy in Saratoga Springs.  In has been in operation for nearly a decade. It was founded by Lakeview's Director Richard Veasey, Casey Voeks, and Skyler Carr. It opened with one ship, the USS Leo which use to be the gym's equipment room.  The school built an addition and in that addition came two new ships, identical to each other; the Apollo and the Artemis (the Leo has since closed).  
     Casey Voeks was the LGSC first director.  Dan Kirkpatrick is the current Director with Emma Hilmo as his Asst. Director. 

     The LGSC has three supervisors:  Kelsie, Jonathan, and Melissa and several volunteers.  
     The LGSC operates much like the Space EdVenture Center in Utah County because it traces its history back to the original Space Center in Pleasant Grove through its founding director Casey Voeks.  It offers summer camps, 2.5 hour private missions, and 4.5 hour private missions.  The simulator's operating control system is the main difference between the LGSC and Utah Valley's four other full time space centers; The Christa McAuliffe Space Center (CMSC), The Space Place (TSP) at Renaissance Academy, The American Heritage Space Center, and the Telos Discovery Space Center. The LGSC uses Dream Flight Adventures software (Thank You Gary Gardiner!) . The other Space EdVentures Centers use Thorium (Thank You Alex Anderson!).

     The LGSC and The Space Place at Renaissance Academy are both located in charter schools.  Their primary responsibility is to provide the students at their schools with space missions throughout the school year.  The LGSC does that by offering school day in house field trips to Lakeview's students.  Each class (Kindergarten - 9th Grade) attends a few times each school year.  The Space Place at Renaissance Academy offers a Young Astronauts Club (grades 3 - 5) and a Voyager Club (grades 6 - 9) to Renaissance's students in an after school format.  Nearly 200 students participate yearly.  Neither the LGSC or The Space Place offer field trips to outside schools.  Only The Christa McAuliffe Space Center offers field trips.  
     To learn more about the Lions Gate Space Center visit their website LionsGateSpaceCenter.com. 

     Amberly P. rose quickly through the Voyager Club ranks at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center.  Her first mission as a new volunteer was on April 22, 2022 on the Odyssey.  She started working on her simulator passes until she felt that yearning to occupy a flight director's chair.  She had the talent, time, and drive - but what ship was calling her into its Flight Director chair?  Of course it was the Phoenix.  Her brother, Silver was the Phoenix Set Director and soon to retire, so why not continue the Perry legacy and sit in his same chair.  
     Scott Wilbank was her trainer and the hard work and practice began.  

      After months of training and several practice missions, Amberly received Scott's golden pass.  Only one obstacle stood between her and the Phoenix FD chair - Mr. Porter.  A final "Pass Off" flight was scheduled.  With microphone in hand and nerves in check, Amberly took the Phoenix microphone and worked her magic while Mr. Porter sat behind her with his laptop taking notes.  In the end, the pass was given and Amberly, wearing her Navy Blues, ascended to the Phoenix Flight Director chair.
  
In the vast expanse of stars so bright,
Amberly trained by day and night,
A Voyager officer with dreams so high,
To Director the Phoenix through the endless sky.

Through trials of flight and tests so stern,
With courage and skill, she sought to learn,
In simulations and practice flights,
She proved her mettle through endless nights.

Mr. Porter watched with a knowing gaze,
A mentor's pride in Amberly's ways,
He saw in her the spark of grace,
The heart of a Director, ready to embrace.

Then came the day, a pass in hand,
Mr. Porter's seal, the golden brand,
"To Amberly, now Flight Director be,
Command your ship, sail the galaxy free."

With joy and pride, her journey starts,
A leader born, with steadfast heart,
In the starlit sky, her name will soar,
Flight Director Amberly, forevermore.

      I popped into Mr. Porter's office last week and found him examining what appeared to be a lapel pin.  He was wearing one of those jeweler's eye loupe magnifiers in his right eye.  "Hummmmm, not a perfect casting, but it will do," I heard him mumble to himself.  
     My curiosity was sparked. "What do you have there?" I asked. 
     He turned to look at me, then jumped as if startled.  "Have your teeth always been that shade of yellow?"  
     "Take off the magnifier," I asked politely.  He removed it from his eye. 
     "That's better," he said.  "These are our new Honor's Night pins."  He laid them out on his desk for the photo.   
   Up until today, Space Center staff and volunteers earned patches for reaching volunteering and years of service milestones.  The Patch Era is officially over.  Starting with September's Honor's Night, all staff and volunteers will earn pins instead.  Mr. Porter's reasoning is sound. Everyone who volunteers and works at the Space Center wears a lanyard.  Employee lanyards display their Alpine District ID.  Voyager Club lanyards display a volunteer's years of service and club rank.  The new Honor's Night pins are for the lanyards. Now our staff and volunteers can proudly wear a symbol which recognizes their work towards the Space Center's mission.
     Staff and volunteers, you'll be able to swap out your perviously earned patches for the new pins at the September Honor's Night; so dig them out of the drawer in your room where they've been living, and bring them to the Honor's Night.  
         

Hello Space Center Friends,
     From time to time I receive emails from former campers who've moved on in life, gone to school, found a profession, and then find a way to come back to where they started by launching a space center like project of their own. Ethan Grove is one such person.  He sent the following email on May 10; 

Hi Victor,
     More than 20 years ago, I participated in a space simulator experience that captured and fired my imagination to the point that I have never forgotten that experience all these years later. Last year, myself and a team of talented engineers started putting together our own version of your vision, here in Houston, Texas. Attached, you'll find a few photos of the project. I would love to connect and share the project that we've been working on. Please let me know a time to chat that works for you.

Thanks!
Ethan Groves
CEO Odyssey Augmented

      The following is from the company's Linkedin page: 
     At Odyssey Augmented, we're developing an extended reality space simulation. Our aim is to create an immersive experience that seamlessly blends theatrical effects with cutting-edge virtual technology. The simulation includes multiple positions for adventurers, such as captain, pilot, engineer, scientist, and security officer with unique mini-games and tasks for each role. With our dynamic approach to mixed reality, Odyssey Augmented is pioneering a new frontier of interactive entertainment.

      I replied to Ethan's email and a Zoom conference was arranged with myself, Ethan, and his partners.  We spoke for over an hour about the history of the Christa McAuliffe Space Center, how I started it 33 years ago, how I arranged the funding, etc.  I told them of the other companies that spun off of the Space Center and where they are today; some succeeded, some failed. I went into specifics as to why the ones that failed - failed. 
      Odyssey Augmented is starting with a spaceship escape room experience. If successful, the escape room will provide the funds needed to expand into an educational experiential program similar to the CMSC to serve the Houston area.  This is their concept for the escape room experience.  

     Many of us Space EdVenturers know the process to designing a starship simulator from scratch. You begin with your "dream ship" and then reality sets in.  You first look at your physical space, then your budget, then your team of builders, and from that comes a more realistic design - the one you can afford and build.  Here is the Odyssey Augmented's final design. 

     The next step is mapping your set into the room using chairs and masking tape as seen below...

      And then comes construction with a desperate prayer that the funding will stretch far enough to bring the ship, as designed, into reality....

    Odyssey Augmented's website is under development but clearly shows how the escape room will function, the type of missions (combat, discovery, trade), a link to their blog etc.  They also did their homework.  They returned to Utah to do a mission in the Odyssey last May.  They follow my motto, "Learn from the Best!"  

     Odyssey Augmented's Facebook page has several cool Reels to enjoy to get the full effect of the simulator.  They've done themselves proud with this ship and the hands on physical touch approach they've taken to run the set.  
Click on the following Reels to get a good feel for the simulator / escape room.  
     1.  Navigating through an asteroid field where you control the ship.
     2. Testing the flight station.
     3. The Bridge in operation.
     4. The Engine Room 
     5. The Coolest Way to Start Your Warp Engine I've Ever Seen! 
     6. The Tour of the Bridge

     Ethan and team should have the ship up and running as an escape room adventure in the Fall.  I'll keep you Troubadour up to date on all developments.  Of course you can follow them yourselves through Facebook and their website; OdysseyAugmented.com

​Mr. Willaimson

Lehi, Utah.  The Space Place at Renaissance Academy

     The Space Place at Renaissance Academy in Lehi, home to the Starships Voyager and Nighthawk, have several space camps open in July

     Go to TheSpacePlace.org to book yours today.  

Pleasant Grove, Utah.  The Christa McAuliffe Space Center

     The Christa McAuliffe Space Center has a variety of camps to choose from, and they operate almost every day of the month.  You may choose from a Day Camp, Officer Camp, and Junior Programs.  Day Camps on colored yellow.  Officer Camps are colored orange. Go to SpaceCenter.AlpineSchools.org to book you camp today! 

Saratoga Springs, Utah.  The Lions Gate Center at Lakeview Academy

     The Lions Gate Center at Lakeview Academy in Saratoga Springs has one July camp on July 20th.  Go the Lionsgatespacecenter.com to book your ticket to the camp.