American Dynasty

      This will surprise those of you of think the USS Voyager was the first simulator I created. The Voyager was the ship I built for the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center but not Central Elementary School's first simulator. There was a simulator BEFORE the Voyager.  I'm not talking about my classroom or the school's gym, both of which were used as the bridge of our imaginary starship in the 1980's. I'm talking about the Pegasus, a real honest to goodness simulator build with old school equipment and a few odds and ends I found at the local Radio Shack.        Sadly I don't have pictures of the interior of the Pegasus but was lucky to find this photo (above) of the entrance.  Can you tell where the ship was located inside Central Elementary?  Even today you'll see some of the simulator's blue paint from 1987 exposed where the current paint has been scratched away over the years.        The...

Renaissance Space Academy's Intermediate Coders sent this picture to Santa after delivering a picture perfect Christmas.        Gloom spread over Santa's workshop the evening of December 22nd as word of the United States Government shutdown reached the North Pole by carrier penguin. Because of the shutdown, Santa wouldn't have access to information from the United States Space Command; information Santa relies on to track weather systems and potential midair hazards like jets, helicopters, blimps, and drones.        At an emergency meeting held around Santa's kitchen table over spiced eggnog and festive confections hot out of Mrs. Claus's oven, Santa and his chief elves brainstormed alternatives.  Who could they trust to get them safely from home to home around the world? Who could they trust to reroute passenger, cargo, private, and military aircraft to avoid a tragic metal on reindeer encounter?  The British? With Br...