The International Space Museum

 

By Bixyl  Shuftan

 

With some big stories behind me, I thought it was important to take a look at a few must-see places that haven't been in the paper for a while. One that came to mind was the International Space Museum, in Spaceport Alpha.  

 

 The place has been in Second Life since it's early days, first going up in September 2005. So it will be 20 years old next month. While some of the builds are old by today's standards, it's very well done, and always informative. 

 

Near the middle of the Spaceport Alpha sim is a seating area. Some rocket launches, notably manned ones, are televised, and people come here to watch them, as well as discuss them. There's also occasional broadcasts from the International Space Station.  

 

At what used to be an official entrance is a circle of flags of all nations that have launched rockets into space. Some had less peaceful motivations than others. 

 

 While many of the exhibits are from around the museum's first years, there's an interactive one that isn't: the Space X Dragon capsule rocket ride. 

 

 To start, just get in the capsule, right-click and sit, and it will soon launch into the air ...

 

 And into space, the rocket soon falling away ...

 

 

And soon the Dragon capsule comes to dock at the International Space Station, humankind's current permanent manned location in space. 

 

There was a teleport to start a tour of the planets, starting with Mercury, the closest to the sun, which is basically a heat-blasted rock. 

 

The tour takes you to all eight major planets, Jupiter of course being the largest.

 

Uranus is the strangest, with it's rocky rings and tilted on the side. And of course the name that makes it the "butt" of jokes. 

 

 The tour also took you to stars and galaxies.

 

And after the tour, you can take the Dragon Capsule back down to Earth. 

 

 The last part of the rocket falls away as it heads back to Earth ...

 

 

 Entering the atmosphere, the friction gets so hot, the capsule would be burned up without the heat shield.

 

And eventually the parachutes open to slow your descent ...

 

 And a safe touchdown.

 

 There are numerous other exhibits, though the most visible is clearly the ring of rockets.

 

 So what did it take to get a two foot metal ball with instruments and antennae into space in the 1950s?

 

 This rocket in the middle, you can compare it to my avatar next to the green capsules to it's left.

 

About once a week, the National Space Society group in Second Life meets at the ring for it's "Tea and Rockets" chat.

 

There are many more, but to keep the article short, I'll have to leave them out.

 

On a final note, the museum is still in need of help.  It still needs people, whether builders, scriptors, educators, and others to help with new, and remodeling, exhibits. And donations are generously accepted.

 

WE NEED YOU! The International Spaceflight Museum (ISM) is always growing and needs volunteers of all types to help "make it so". Whether your strengths are in SL building or scripting, public relations, research, education, engineering, giving presentations, space art and design, administration and management, writing, imagining, or providing feedback, we'd like to work together to share the dream.

We need donors, too. ISM is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to presenting information and experiences of past, present, and near future space hardware to the public. It has been a fixture in Second Life since 2005, built by a cadre of volunteers.

 

For more information, feel free to contact Kat Lemieux, the Director or Shanna Starship, the museum Officer. 

 

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/128/128/22

 

 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spaceport%20Alpha/35/95/22 (teleport pad)

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Space Destiny Island Sim Closing Down March 1

Checking out Daniel Voyager’s Blog, I read about a science sim that I hadn’t heard from in a while: Space Destiny Island. One of the “Sci-Lands” sims, it is a great sim with places that both inform and entertain. Unfortunately, it is about to vanish from Second Life.

Porting in at the LM given for Space Destiny (85, 94, 24), a short distance to the south is the Liyana Hall, which offers a sign and notecard explaining about the sim, and has a small picture gallery with a few exhibits. Also hear the entrance is a display explaining about the Sci-Lands in general, along with flags of the countries of people whom sent donations to help pay for the sim. Down a trail to the west is the Solar Hazard Research Center, which explains sun-related dangers such as solar flares. Over looking it on a hill is a planetarium.


Going east of the entry point across a bridge, one will find Sustainable Communities, which explains a little about how certain skills familiar to 19th century pioneers and the Amish will prove useful again to planetary colonists, notably the need to be self-reliant with just the resources at hand. The Midrivers Project Space Center discussed health and well-being in space, mentioning of the “vibrating dumbbell” on TV commercials, saying its origins were in the space program. It also mentioned Tuna Oddfellow’s Odd Ball, saying the psychological effects the show has on some people could prove useful for researchers looking for drug-free ways to relive stress and homesickness on astronauts. North of that on the coast were displays of aquaculture (farming in the ocean), and “Sea-steading” - structures for living and research built over the ocean like oil rigs.

The northeast part of the sim is Skylon, it’s huge rocket plane visible on the map. Here one will find exhibits on aircraft and ariel science, as well as a flying carpet to take you around. Down the east coast are exhibits on space stations and rockets. In the southeast corner of the sim is the Study Centre for Food Production in Controlled Environments. There, one will find exhibits on agriculture in space, notably a centrifugal force chamber to simulate gravity in a space station (plants don’t get dizzy). There was also a link to a Youtube of the University of Arizona’s CEAC Lunar Greenhouse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Dbh0nvh-4).

Just down a path west from the Food Production Center is a recreational area with lounge chairs and dance floor. Looking around, I found a notecard with a LM to a Trek roleplay area over the sim (157, 207, 2048). Going there, I found a Trek space station: Outpost 17. Looking around, I found a dispenser that could manufacture phasers, datapads, and Starfleet uniforms: gold, blue, and of course red. While there, I ran into two members of the RP, Flea Habilis and Yoiko Hax. “We've about two days left,” Yoiko explained, “Still not sure exactly what's gonna happen to our station here. ... At least everything's backed up. Even a lower prim version -just- in case. ... I feel worse for everyone on ground level. As many times as Space Destiny seemed to change direction, they all preserved.” Their RP was also known as Space Station Hideki.

Exactly why the sim is closing was not explained, though they did say everything was being set up on Opensim, with people invited to contact Silviana Jenvieve (Dr. Jenny Oliver in RL). So those able to go to Opensim will still be able to see it. For those who can’t, Monday February 28 is the last chance to see this educational sim.

Once again, the entrance is at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Space%20Destiny/85/94/24

Source: Daniel Voyager's Blog

Bixyl Shuftan