Sunday, July 26, 2026
The July Voyager Club Meeting at the Space Center. New Attendance Record Set! The Galileo Flight Director Alex Russon, Retires from the Space Center. Photos from the Extended Space Camp. The Imaginarium Theater
Sunday, July 19, 2026
Another Space Center Great Retires Planetside. What is it With These High Paying Jobs? Isn't Working for Starfleet for Low Wages Satisfying Enough?! The Space Place Ends its Summer Camp Season. Time to Prep for the School Year. Imaginarium Theater.
These things happen, life calls, and one of the Space Center's Greatest retires from the Space Service to return planetside to take a position at a local company as a programmer.
Ellie started as a young volunteer in June 2019. COVID hit just as she was getting off to a great start, which robbed her of one year in the fleet. But she was right back at it once restrictions were lifted and the scourge had subsided.
Ellie trained under Jon Parker and quickly became a Cassini Supervisor, then a flight director. She expanded her interests and also became a Phoenix Flight Director.
I had the privilege of working with Ellie during my brief time as a Cassini FD. She made working on the Cassini a joy with her sense of humor and a contagious positive attitude toward the Space Center, its mission, and all our patrons.
Good luck Ellie. You will be missed by those you leave behind........
Sunday, July 12, 2026
Here Be Dragons, A New Junior Space Camp Mission at The Space Place at Renaissance Academy. Brady Blumn from Dumb and Dumber and Winnie the Pooh Visit the Space Center. Check Out the Space Center's Newest Camp for Kids, "Astrozoology". Some Cool Things Coming to the Space Center's Planetarium. See the Starship Simulator in London! Imaginarium Theater
This blog likes to keep the Space EdVenturing community up to date on developments at the local space centers in Utah County: Christa McAuliffe Space Center, American Heritage Discovery Space Center, The Space Place, The Lions Gate Space Center at Lakeview Academy, and the Telos Discovery Space Center in Orem. One of the things I like to announce is new missions debuting in the simulators.
Here Be Dragons is the name of the new Junior Space Camp mission at The Space Place at Renaissance Academy in Lehi. The mission was told for the first time last week and went very well. Junior camps at The Space Place are for students going into 3rd through 4th grade.
Here is a little more on Brady Bluhm.
The character was played by child actor Brady Bluhm, who also voiced Christopher Robin in several Winnie the Pooh productions. Nearly 20 years later, the Farrelly Brothers tracked Bluhm down via Facebook to cast him as the grown-up Billy in the 2014 sequel, Dumb and Dumber To, where he appears with a talking cockatoo
25% off our new Astro Zoology camp for ages 6-7 starting next week. Use the code "ASTRO" at checkout to sign up your child for a puzzle-filled experience helping with a space-creature mix-up. spacecenter.as.me/camps
We know you've been looking up at the sky on these warm summer evenings. Come learn more about what's out there at our planetarium.
spacecenterutah.org/planetarium
Ever wanted to fly your own starship?
Step aboard this immersive spaceship adventure that is “quite simply the nearest you will ever get to being in space” (★★★★★ London Theatre1).
This intergalactic expedition combines the best of theatre, cutting-edge gaming technology, escape rooms and features live actors to bring to life “a sci-fi fan’s dream come true!” (★★★★★ Clonestar Pod) without the need for VR or wearable tech.
Don the uniform, and join the crew for an adventure featuring unexpected discoveries, high-stakes negotiations, and chilling mysteries. Your choices steer the mission and every decision shapes a story that’s uniquely yours, offering a “meaningful sense of agency” (Time Out).
Bridge Command offers five distinct mission types — Frontline, Military, Exploration, Intrigue, and Diplomacy and up to 14 unique crew roles across Science, Engineering, Operations, and Command teams (link each to their section on the page). With multiple scenarios for each mission type, each visit offers a new episode and no two experiences are ever the same.
Don’t miss the chance to ‘star in a space odyssey of your own making’ (★★★★ The Stage)
Here are a few videos of their program in action.
Sunday, July 05, 2026
Telos Discovery Space Center in Orem / Vineyard Opens a New Starship. Starship Simulations and Simulators is Catching On - Mobile Space Adventures in Texas with On the Spot, Real Time, Data Analysis. Imaginarium Theater
From Nathan King's Facebook Post
We look forward to flying with you!
We bring a full starship bridge simulator right to your school or business — and hand your crew command of a high-stakes mission. Our system observes how the crew communicates, decides, and works together — and turns it into a report you can actually use.
What we value:
Learning — every game can be a lesson.
Leadership — everyone gets a chance to lead.
Evidence — not a survey.
Privacy — everything runs locally, anonymized.We're the measurement layer leadership has been missing.
Follow along — more missions are launching soon.
WHAT ONE MISSION REVEALS
A starship bridge simulator arrives at your school. Six students walk in. They take crew positions: Captain, Helm, Science, Engineering, Communications, and Operations.For 30 to 90 minutes, they run a mission while the Mission Analysis System listens to every command, every hesitation, every moment one student steps up or another goes quiet.The next day, you get a crew performance report."Marcus made decisions 40% faster than his peers under pressure, but rarely asked for input before acting. He leads, but he does not listen."That is not a guess. That is behavioral data aligned to NASA teamwork competencies and Leader in Me frameworks. Now you know what to work on with Marcus.
HOW IT WORKS
Three days. No buses. Data on every measured student.
We Come to Your Campus
Students Run Real Missions:
Two Reports, Within 24 Hours:
Six behavior metrics, a full crew leaderboard, and all 20 TEKS standards scored by evidence level — the map for classroom follow-on. Class-wide performance patterns and individual breakdowns, built for instructional planning meetings and Texas TIA portfolio documentation.Principal's Brief (For Administrators and Boards)
Four headline numbers, TEKS coverage by subject, and named coaching targets — the case for funding justification and board reporting. Sole source justification language available for Title IV Part A and Perkins V procurement.FERPA and COPPA compliant. All data processing occurs locally on equipment inside the school building. No student data leaves your campus.
Sunday, June 28, 2026
The Passing of Steve Wall, a Long-Time Space Center Friend and Co-Designer and Builder of the First Odyssey Simulator. Be One of the First to Try Out a New Set of Starship Controls! A Summary of the June Voyager Club Meeting - An All Time Record Attendance! The Imaginarium Theater
From Facebook, by Marla Trowbridge
Steve Wall, also known as Mr. Wall or Wally, passed away on June 21st, 2026.
Steve was a science and physics teacher for many years, 1993-2016, in the Cache County School District (Official), teaching at both North and South Cache schools.
He also ran a local space simulator with his brother Dave and worked with the Christa McAuliffe Space Center in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
He was a creative and engaging teacher. More than that, he was an incredible friend who truly cared about those people whom he knew and his students.
There will be a memorial service in July, and I will let people know when that is.____________________________________________
Steve and his brother Dave were two of those remarkable people who magically walked through the Space Center's doors just when the need was greatest.
Victor
Gary Gardiner Released the Beta Version of a New Simulator Control System Called Infinity Command. Your Feedback is Requested!
Gary Gardiner, along with his wife and associates, is the creator of Dream Flight Adventures. They have several starship simulators in the eastern half of the country and overseas (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Washington DC, and Venezuela). Gary's controls are also extensively used at the Lions Gate Space Center at Lakeview Academy located in Saratoga Springs.
Hi Victor,I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. I wanted to share some news that you and fans of The Troubadour might find interesting. Over the past several months, I've been working on a new starship simulator platform called Infinity Command. Here's a quick 60-second video that shows it in action.Infinity Command builds upon the Dream Flight Adventures software. It's got the same easy-to-use interface, with better graphics, more flexibility, and it's completely free!The Dream Flight Adventures controls are still in use in our simulator locations, so Infinity Command is more like a spin-off — and a way to give back to the Space EdVenturing community.I just launched our public beta, and I'm hoping to get the word out so folks can start using it and seeing how it can be most useful for them. There are lots of different simulator controls out there, so my hope with Infinity Command is to find a good way to enhance everyone's simulator experience by working alongside other tools like Thorium, etc.Please feel free to share this around, and let me know if you have any questions.Thanks so much
OK Space Center staff and volunteers, let's take Infinity Command out for a spin and tell me what you think. I'll pass along your comments to Gary. Let's help him spread the word and slowly, yet surely, Create a Space-Faring Civilization, One Student at a Time!
Mr. W.
The Space Center's Voyager Club Holds Its June Meeting and Sets an All-Time Attendance Record
Meeting Highlights & Recognition
Alex Anderson, the club's vice president, called the meeting to order and kicked things off by asking all new Voyager Club members to come to the front. A shockwave swept through the room when a massive group stood up—these new members come from all over Utah Valley! As the head of the Space Center's volunteering force, I've been busy onboarding these outstanding individuals over the last month. They bring incredible fresh energy to our simulators, and we are lucky to have them.
Specialized Workshops
Following the opening activities, the group split into two focused workshops:
Acting 101: Tyler Weight met with the new members to cover the basics of volunteering. His course dives into characterizations, impromptu acting, costuming, costume care, and away missions.
Simulator Control Design: Alex Anderson took the veteran volunteers for a deep dive into the philosophy and practice of designing effective simulator controls. As the expert who programmed several iterations of the Space Center's software—including Thorium, which runs 14 starship simulators in Utah Valley—Alex compared past and present starship controls with Thorium Nova, the next-generation software currently under development.
Imaginarium Theater
Sunday, June 21, 2026
The Space Place at Renaissance Academy Opens for Summer Camps. Meet Eli, the Space Center's Newest Flight Director. All Cassini Flight Directors, Past and Present, Gather for a 30 Second Reunion - Nearly Short out the Simuator's Systems. Meet the Brains Behind Mission.io. This Week's Imaginairum Theater
The summer space camp season for The Space Place at Renaissance Academy kicked off on June 9, 2026, with a Day Camp. Day Camps at the Space Place are run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:00 - 9:00 PM.
Bracken Funk is the director of the Space Place. He also teaches middle school PE at Renaissance during the school year. Renaissance Academy has two starships with only one, the USS Voyager, functioning at the moment. The Voyager is the largest starship simulator in the network of simulators that surrounds Utah Lake. The other starships are at the following locations:
• The Christa McAuliffe Space Center: 6 Starships
• Discovery Space Center at American Heritage School: 2 Starships
• The Lions Gate Space Center at Lakeview Academy: 4 Starships and a space station.
• Telos Academy: 1 Starship
With one starship, Day Camps at The Space Place only take 12 students per camp. Keeping the numbers low ensures every camper has a unique, hands-on experience with the ship and the storyline.
Meet Eli, The Space Center's Newest Flight Director
Some of you may have noticed that Eli has been wearing a new shirt today. He has joined the ranks of Flight Director, and you can find him in his native environment in the Phoenix! Eli has managed this accomplishment in 8 months of training!
Because of his unique schooling schedule, he was able to train during field trips and so has a familiarity with both the Magellan and the Phoenix. It's impressive to see Eli take a first swing at an unfamiliar story thanks to his training experience. His first stab is often as polished as many an FD's third pass. Between Eli's instinct for storytelling, friendly demeanor, and love of learning, the Phoenix has gained a mighty flight director.
Well done and congratulations to Eli!!
Tabitha Ricks
All the Cassini's Flight Directors (Past and Present) Gather for a 30 Second Reunion
Meet the People Behind Mission.io. The Great Casey Voeks and Skyler Carr
The Week's Best Videos From Around the World, Edited for a Gentler Audience



















































