The Space Center Celebrates its 36th Birthday Anniversary! Thoughts from James Porter and Yours Truly. Video Celebrations of the Space Center's History. Do You Recognize Some of These Space Center Old-Timers? Imaginarium Theater

A Birthday Tribute for the Space Center's 35th Birthday

A Birthday Tribute to the Space Center by James Porter, Space Center Director.

A Program Rich in Tradition, History, and Mission.  Staff and Volunteers over the Years Working Together to provide a unique educational experience for Utah.

James wrote the following on the Space Center's Birthday Anniversary  

Today marks 36 years since the Voyager simulator first started taking students on experiences beyond the limitations of a typical classroom. So many individuals have helped us reach this point, so we thank them and those who continue to inspire through the discipline of wonder. Much has changed in the world since our launch in 1990. What hasn't changed is that we are part of an amazing community. A community with the unique collective experience of starship crews exploring our universe through the endless reaches of our imaginations.

We can't imagine 36 years without you. Happy 36th anniversary to the Christa McAuliffe Space Center and her many crews.

James Porter
Space Center Director

36 Years of Reaching for the Stars: Looking Back on Where It All Began

The Bridge of the Voyager. 1990

On November 8, 1990, the Christa McAuliffe Space Center officially opened its doors with a massive open house and dedication ceremony. Hundreds of people gathered, filling the Central Elementary gym and lining up all the way down the hallway just to tour the original Starship Voyager. We were honored to welcome Utah Senator Jake Garn—who flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985—as our keynote speaker.

Today marks 36 years since that unforgettable day. As the founder, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the thousands of staff members and volunteers whose dedication built this institution, and to the hundreds of thousands of participants who have joined us for field trips, space camps, private missions, and classes over the decades. Thank you for your unwavering support.

People often ask me, "How did the Space Center get started?" While many of you Troubadours know the history, the spark goes back to 1983.

A clerical error during my student teaching assignment at BYU unexpectedly landed me in Mr. Mike Thompson’s 6th-grade classroom at Central Elementary in Pleasant Grove. Tasked with teaching a space science unit, I wanted to deliver something truly extraordinary to impress my university professor.

Inspired by Carl Sagan’s 1980 television series Cosmos—which I watched endlessly on a 12-inch black-and-white TV in my college apartment—I decided to take my students on an immersive journey into space. Personal computers weren't available in classrooms back then, so I created hand-drawn controls on posterboards for my students' desks, projected custom visuals using overhead transparencies, and played music on a boombox cassette player. I performed all the sound effects, alien voices, and computer prompts myself. The experiment was a resounding success: my professor gave me an A, Mr. Thompson wrote a glowing recommendation, and when a teaching slot opened up that spring, I was hired full-time.

For the next seven years, those classroom voyages evolved. We eventually expanded beyond my room into the school gym, using poster-board consoles and the whole building to run full-scale starship simulations for our Young Astronaut Chapter. That original classroom setup paved the way for building the Starship Voyager and opening the Space Center in 1990.

Carl Sagan’s vision inspired us from the start: to spark curiosity and encourage people to look up at the universe and see what humanity can achieve. Thirty-six years later, our core mission remains unchanged: we work to inspire and create a space-faring civilization.

Sagan famously wrote, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." Perhaps that something is our shared potential, woven together into the eternal fabric of time and space.

Thank you for 36 incredible years.

Ad Astra!

Victor Williamson

Founder, Christa McAuliffe Space Center

The original paper helm station for the classroom starship Pegasus.

My 6th Grade Student Teaching Class. Mr. Thompson is on the left. Mr. Emal (principal) is on the right. This was their class picture taken in September 1982. They did the very first simulated missions.

The Classroom Simulator's Audio/Visual System :)

The poster board weapons and engine controls. The wear and tear speaks to the many missions and hours of fun this poster gave my students over those years.

The poster board controls for the USS Pegasus were easy to use. The student said the button's name as they pressed it. From behind my desk, I'd hear the student and make the appropriate sound whilst searching through my stack of overheads for the right visual effect.

These young Starfleet officers from my first year of teaching are in their mid-50s today

Who Do You Recognize from these Old Space Center Videos?

From the Archives

2012

Fun in the Old Space Center.  Who do You Recognize?  A couple in this happy group still work at the Space Center.

We have the end of a summer overnight camp.  The campers are in the gym doing final votes. The staff came in for votes.  Megan led the staff and volunteers in the "end of camp" dance she came up with.  You'll also see Bracken Funk in this photo. Bracken is the Director of The Space Place at Renaissance today.   

2012-13  

     The Space Center has reopened from the maintenance shutdown.  Megan Warner directs the Space Center.  The first Odyssey simulator was just demolished, leaving the Briefing Room empty for the Phoenix to occupy.  The new Odyssey simulator is being designed.  

     The first part of the video shows Megan and volunteers testing the Phoenix and getting it ready to reopen and fly.  Starting at 3:05, I move away from the Phoenix and show the empty Briefing Room and the area where the old Odyssey once stood.

     I walk across the Briefing Room to where my desk used to be.  You'll see a very low doorway. That was the entrance to the Voyager Simulator — The Mother Ship of them all.  Staff and volunteers used this entrance primarily.  Crews entered the Voyager through a revolving door in the school's stage.  

     The Voyager's last mission was a private mission on July 27, 2012. Little did we know that when those lights went out that evening, it would be the ship's last mission after thousands of flights spanning November 1990 to July 2012.  The ship was locked, and only maintenance could enter.  Only on a rare occasion would the door be left open for me to walk through and remember.  

The walk-through recorded in the following video was one of those. They were always sad for me. 

      The video continues with a stroll into the Discovery Room / Magellan.  Both rooms were getting ready for reopening.  Jon Parker and Zac Hirshi are talking in the Discovery Room. You'll see Magellan's Control Room and Magellan itself.        

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