Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek's premiere on television by participating in the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Experience at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.  From July 9 through October 31, 2016 visitors to the 12,000 square foot exhibit will be immersed in the experience of being a cadet training for a crew spot on a Star Trek space ship.  Do you have what it takes to be assigned to NCC-1701, the Starship Enterprise?

Entering the exhibit you are provided a wrist band that is coded to your admission ticket.  You'll be greeted by a hologram of a Vulcan training instructor who advises you on your assignments. Throughout the experience you'll need to scan your band against identified panels in order to participate in various training sessions.

How will you do in a phaser shootout? What are your linguistics skills when it comes to speaking Klingon?  Can you diagnose an illness or injury with a tricorder? How will you fare in the legendary Kobayashi Maru training simulation?  How you score in all of these scenarios will determine which specialty you are assigned at the conclusion of your cadet training - language, medicine, engineering, navigation, science or command.

In addition to these interactive training sessions, the exhibit also features models, props, and costumes from various Star Trek television shows that are really interesting to see first hand.

Another highlight is being able to take facial features from a variety of the aliens featured in the television shows and transform yourself into your own unique Star Trek persona.

The best part of the experience for me was the Transporter Room which simulates people being teleported just like in the television show.  People stand in a tube off to the side of the room and a hologram of the person is projected onto a transformer pad set in the stage set located at the middle of the room.  Your hologram than appears to transport your image with the same special effects from the Star Trek television shows.  I tried to get some pictures and video but they don't do justice to watching the effects live in front of you.

The exhibit wraps up with a mock up of the bridge of the Enterprise from the Star Trek: The Next Generation television show.  There are terminals around the edge of the room that allow you to engage in the Kobayashi Maru simulation while you wait to get a photo op in Captain Picard's bridge command chair.

Leaving the Star Trek: The Star Fleet Academy Experience you are provided a report card based upon how you excelled during your cadet training.  Of course I was identified as having Command potential!

Turn in your wrist band and you'll have emailed to you a copy of your Starfleet Academy report card, your Star Trek alien portrait, and a video showing you in the transporter room which make for nice souvenirs.

For more information, visit IntrepidMuseum.org/StarTrek.

#StarTrekNYC

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

While in New York City for the annual Blogger Bash conference, which provides an opportunity for bloggers to network with and learn about some amazing brands, I found some time to explore the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.  Located in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood (the stomping grounds of one of my favorite Marvel Comics characters Daredevil) at Pier 86 along the Hudson River, this unique museum allows visitors to examine a decommissioned aircraft carrier, space shuttle, submarine and a variety of historic aircraft including the record-breaking British Airways Concorde.  The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum is open April through October weekdays 10 am - 5 pm and on the weekends 10am - 6pm.  During the rest of the year it is open daily throughout the week 10 am - 5 pm.

The main attraction of the museum is the World War II era USS Intrepid aircraft carrier, which is a National Historic Landmark.  This aircraft carrier survived five kamikaze attacks and one torpedo strike during World War II and played an important role in the Vietnam War.  The vessel also served as a NASA recovery vessel for space capsules returning to Earth before it was decommissioned in 1974.  Intrepid can now be toured providing a glimpse at what life was like on a mid-twentieth century navel vessel and displays a variety of civilian and military aircraft on the flight deck and within its giant interior hanger.

There are some amazing views from the decks of the Intrepid and a visit will bring out your adventurous spirit as you explore the ship's interior.  Be prepared there are some steep ladders and walkways to traverse but making the effort to visit the various nooks and crannies of the aircraft carrier is well worth the effort.

At the back of the aircraft carrier's flight deck is the Space Shuttle Pavilion.  This houses the space shuttle Enterprise, which was the prototype NASA orbiter which was used for flight tests to help design the shuttle fleet that went into space.  As this shuttle never went into space and was used for testing descent within the planet's atmosphere it is essentially gutted with nothing to view inside.  Yet it is still impressive to be able to walk directly underneath the first space shuttle are get a dynamic view of it from an elevated platform.  Also on display is a Russian Soyuz TMA-6 rocket capsule which provides an interesting comparison on two different approaches to traveling into outer space.

My grandfather was a submariner during the same era the USS Intrepid was in service, including 9 patrols in the South Pacific during WWII, and I was always fascinated to hear him tell stories of his tours of duty at sea.  So I really enjoyed the opportunity to walk through a ship similar to the ones he captained in the later years of his career during my visit to the museum.  You are able to walk through the USS Growler, one of America's first guided missile submarines, providing a firsthand look at a crew's life aboard one.  A tour of the Growler also provides you with an appreciation of how much technology has advanced since this ship prowled the seas in the 1950s and '60s when you take a look at the equipment in the "top secret" missile command center.  I really give a lot of credit to the crews who do tours on the confined spaces of today's modern submarines and this tour really puts into perspective the tough living conditions on early submarines that make being assigned to this duty in modern times appear almost to be a luxury in comparison.  Walking through the Growler is a pretty eye opening experience and not something you want to do if you are claustrophobic.

Also on display is British Airway's Concorde which set a record for the fastest flight crossing the Atlantic Ocean on February 7, 1996 at 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds.

With so many fascinating things to take in at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum you should plan on spending at least a half day exploring the place.  In addition to the vessels and vehicles being shown there are all sorts of interesting films and exhibits to view while you visit.  I really had a great time checking out the museum and would highly recommend you make an effort to visit it during a trip to New York City.

For more information, visit intrepidmuseum.org