The Voyager Club's September Meeting: Cookies, Asteroids, and the Road to a Spacefaring Civilization
Saturday’s Voyager Club meeting was out of this world—literally and figuratively. If you’ve never been to a Voyager Club gathering, picture a room full of future starship captains, mad scientists, and cookie miners, all united under one bold mission: “Creating a Space Faring Civilization.”
The Voyager Club, based at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center, welcomes students (grade 7 and up) and adults who want to boldly go where no volunteer has gone before. Members don’t just talk space—they live it. Club members volunteer in the Center’s six starship simulators, acting in high-stakes, Star Trek–style missions set 300 years in the future. Whether it’s a 2.5-hour mission or a 5-hour galactic marathon, Voyager members help create the magic that keeps crews of visitors coming back for more.
This month’s meeting featured Jason Trump, Director of Education at the Clark Planetarium and Voyager Club instructor as the presenter. Jason led a fascinating—and delicious—lesson on asteroid mining. Fun fact: a single small asteroid could contain enough precious metals to supply Earth for the next two centuries. (So yes, the next time you see a chunk of space rock, you might be looking at the universe’s bling.)
But here’s the twist: mining an asteroid is hard. To prove the point, Jason handed out chocolate chip cookies. The challenge? “Mine” the chocolate chips in two ways:
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Earth mining: Cookie flat on a paper plate.
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Space mining: Cookie held up with tongs (aka “zero-gravity” mode).
It turns out chocolate-chip mining in space is no easy task—cookies crumble, chips escape orbit, and gravity (or lack thereof) is not your friend. But the laughs were as plentiful as the crumbs, and everyone came away with a deeper appreciation for how tricky—and expensive—real asteroid mining will be.
As if cookies weren’t enough excitement, Dave Stevens did a presentation about a brand-new internship program the club will offer to its high school members. Members are invited to learn basic animation in Unity and help create interactive experiences for the Space Center’s Starbase Williamson set. Translation: you get to design awesome digital magic that visitors will actually use in the Starbase. How’s that for a résumé booster?
Into addition to the two presentations, club members started the meeting with the traditional game of high stakes bingo and ended the meeting with a raffle for some nice prizes: gift cards, a Utah Gold Buck, t-shirts, a phone stand, planetarium tickets, and a high class selfie stick / tripod.
New club members were introduced by club president Eavie and vice president Alex.
The Voyager Club continues to prove that learning about space can be thrilling, hands-on, and yes—downright tasty. If you’re in grade 7 or older and dream of helping humanity reach the stars (or just want an excuse to eat cookies in the name of science), the Voyager Club is your launchpad.
Next stop: the future. 🚀
Alex and Crystal Anderson Host the Return of The Order of the Sandwich (Sandwich Club). It Has Been A Long Time in Coming!
The last official meeting of the Sandwich Club was way back in April 2016 at Renaissance Academy, home of The Space Place. Ever since that fateful day, I’ve intended to host another gathering. The spirit was willing—but the energy? Not so much. Year after year, I kept putting it off, despite repeated bouts of pouting and pleading from current and former Space Center staff members. For a while, it looked like the Club was destined to become nothing more than a quirky footnote in Space Center history. Then, something wonderful happened. Alex Anderson stepped forward to “prime the pump” and bring the tradition back to life.
On Saturday, September 27, Alex convened the Order of the Sandwich at his home in Orem, officially calling the Club back into session at 11:00 A.M. Over the next three hours, current and former Space Center crew members arrived in waves, filling Alex’s living room with laughter, stories, and the unmistakable "Jimmy John's Free Smells". Alex and Crystal went all out with Jimmy John’s sandwiches. (In the past, Sandwich Club meetings were fueled by Walmart subs, so clearly Alex was raising the stakes to attract a more refined crowd. Well played, sir.)
I, of course, managed to arrive fashionably late—thanks to my own lack of attention to detail. I thought the event was happening Saturday evening instead of morning. Thankfully, Alex saved the day with a text that read something like, “Get on the ball and get here!” Crisis averted.
The goal of the day was simple: have fun, reconnect, and rekindle old friendships. “Don’t worry about getting wild,” Alex assured us. “I’ve already warned the neighbors about potential disturbances in the fabric of space and time when this many Space Center alumni gather in one place.”
On behalf of everyone who attended—and those who couldn’t make it—a huge thank you to Alex and Crystal for hosting the triumphant return of the Sandwich Club. Alex got the ball rolling, so the only question now is: Who’s catching the pass to host the next gathering?
the pass and host the next gathering?
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