In case you were wondering, NASA Space Camp for adults costs $500 for a three-day course, and, even though you get to take a spin in the multi-axis trainer, you have to spend the weekend in Alabama.
For a much thriftier, more Star Trek-like experience, you can check out the Star Trek Experience at Canada’s Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. The immersive Starfleet Academy exhibit begins May 26, 2016, as part of the celebrations surrounding the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.
Admission to the museum is $13. I’m gonna assume that’s Canadian dollars, which converted is approximately four geese and a sixer of Labatt Blue. That’s still cheaper than a spin on the simulator in Huntsville. Plus, you get to test the Kobayashi Maru or pilot a starship from an active bridge.
Star Trek enthusiasts will also spend up to an hour learning about tricorder technology, warp drive, phasers and teleporters. There are simulated “courses” you must complete in science, engineering, and strategically ripping your shirt off.
I will be out in the parking lot giving a demonstration of my personal brand of “Kirk-Fu.” Weather and museum security permitting.
The Starfleet Academy Tour is being produced by EMS Entertainment. If your local museum has ever hosted the “CSI: The Experience” exhibition, that’s the same company. They promise the initial “Star Trek Experience” in Canada will be at least 15,000 square feet and will accommodate at least 300 people an hour. It runs through September 2016, and then it will tour around the world.
Again, if you get anxious in crowds, come see me outside where I’ll probably be illegally serving “Romulan Ale.” Which will be Molson Export I’ll open for you with my “Romulan Ale” bottle opener. Which I got from the other “Star Trek Experience” exhibit. Which was in Las Vegas, like, 10 years ago. Which was less about science lessons and more about beer and gambling.
Which I’m gonna guess was slightly more fun.
(Via Star Trek.com and spacecamp.com)