The Galileo II Launches from SpaceDock on Monday
The Galileo II lives! Alex Debirk's students got lights, sound, a network, and controls all going. The ship needs some polish, but you could fly in it now. Alex and his students did a first test flight in it on February 27, and it was beautiful. The first actual flights are on Monday!
The Galileo II is the second of three Galileo starships.
The Galileo I (Galileo Mark 5)was built by David Kyle Herring in 1999 and sat in Central Elementary School's cafeteria until the Galileo II was built to take its place. Read more about the Galileo I by clicking on this link.
The Galileo II (Galileo Mark 6) opened in 2009 and replaced the Galileo I. This ship was the brainchild of David Kyle Herring and Alex DeBirk (and BYU Engineering school). Read more about the creation of the Galileo II by clicking on this link. The Galileo II (Mark 6) was moved to American Heritage School four years ago and is the second simulator in the Discovery Space Center's fleet.
The Galileo III is one of the six Christa McAuliffe Space Center's simulators. The Galileo III is the first Galileo in the series without an exterior configuration.
The Galileo II has taken a couple of years in space dock undergoing repairs and, according to the Discovery Space Center's Director, Alex Debirk, is ready to reopen on Monday. Welcome back to the Fleet Galileo II.
The Christa McAuliffe Space Center's StageWorks Department Training a New Crop of Animators
StageWorks is the Space Center's department responsible for designing and constructing props and computer animations used in the Center's six starship simulators. Recently, a Blender software class was taught at the Center. Voyager Club Explorers and Volunteers took the 4-week Saturday morning class. Upon the class's completion, I decided to try a different approach to progressing our young Blender apprentices. I put out a call for a small group of three Blenderites (those club members familiar with Blender), asking if they were willing to form a special class to move them quickly into Journeymen positions. Bryce, Bruce, and Jaxon accepted the challenge, having already proven they knew Blender well enough to move rapidly through the program.
Jack is one of the Voyager Club's co-presidents at the Space Center and a Journeyman animator for StageWorks. I asked Jack to lead and teach this small team. Happily, he accepted. Their first class was on Saturday from 10:30 A.M. to Noon.
The team has been given the name "Alpha Animators". Jack had them creating some pretty cool animation in Blender by the time the class ended (some of which I thought could be ship-worthy, but Jack disagreed, stating that they could do much better as the lessons progressed).
My plan is to keep the Alpha Animators together as a team with Jack as their Team Captain. Future animation needs will be given to the team as a whole. Jack will divide the work to the team based on their skills. This will take a load of Jack's back as he trains to become a Flight Director and Supervisor.
I plan to create a Beta Animators team as soon as Voyager Club members express an interest in using their Blender skills to create animations for the Space Center's simulations and I can find a Journeyman or Master Team Captain.
Matt Long's StageWorks Engineering Class is Designing Some Pretty Impressive Props
The Alpha Animators class ended at Noon on Saturday, and following right behind them in the computer lab was the StageWorks Props Engineering class taught by Matt Long. Saturday was their fifth class in a series of classes scheduled to end in April. They use CAD software to design props usable in the Space Center's simulators.
Matt demonstrated his latest design on the screen. He had a 3D-printed copy to show the cadet engineers.
Matt is one of several fantastic adult volunteers at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center (and a dad of one of the young volunteers), using his time and talent to teach our Voyager Club's cadets usable and marketable skills. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the Space Center and have been for 34 years, since the Space Center opened in 1990. Volunteerism is what makes the Space Center a proper community-centered program.
Mission.io League Mission is Live! Voyager Clubs to Compete
The 2025 Mission.io League Mission is here, and the Voyager Clubs will compete. The Voyager Clubs at the Christa McAuliffe Space Center and The Space Place will match their skills and knowledge against the best students at Mission.io's participating schools. Look for more information here on the Blog. Voyager Explorers and Volunteers, keep an eye on the club's Google Classroom for updates and enrollment information.
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