Author: Zach Perkins

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Captain’s Blog, Supplemental: (2012.0605) The Transit of Venus

[Above: Close-up of Venus by the Japanese Hinode spacecraft]

On June 5th, 2012, the USS Loma Prieta witnessed one of the rarest of known predictable celestial phenomena: the visible transit of the planet Venus across our Sun. These transits occur in pairs, eight years apart. The last transit occurred in 2004, but before that the transits hadn’t occurred since 1874 and 1882. Knowing that the next transit wouldn’t occur for at least another 105 years (in 2117 and 2125), this was a once (er, twice) in a lifetime event that could not be missed. The Loma Prieta’s stellar cartography team was immediately directed to prepare for observations of the event and take detailed sensor readings.

[Above: Capt. Perkins using the Solar Sensors]

However, due to the immense power of our star, the phenomenon could not be observed with the naked eye and would make our standard sensors and cameras useless. With the assistance of civilian Federation scientist Dr. J. Cox, we devised an ingeniously improvised device out of a pair of level 5 wielding googles, supplemented with an additional pane of level 9 glass. Together, these provided the level 14 protection necessary for safe solar viewing. Dr. Cox’s ‘solar sensors’ were further augmented with binoculars for magnification.

[Above: Dr. Cox’s improvised Solar Sensor device]

Much to my amazement, our ‘solar sensors’ worked magnificently! Through the device would could clearly see the tiny planet transverse in front our star like an ant crawling across a bright green apple (the solar sensors made the sun appear that color). Sadly, due to the extreme magnification and strange lighting of the ‘solar sensors’, it was impossible to get a clear visual record with our iPhone model Tricorders. Even though we were unable to take any high res holo-images, the exhilaration of seeing the planet Venus with our own eyes made the mission a resounding success.

[Above: Holo-image of the Sun through Solar Sensors, x4 magnification]

~Capt. Zach Perkins
Commanding Officer
USS Loma Prieta
Starfleet, Region 4

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Away Mission to the Maker Faire

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Captain’s Blog, Supplemental: (2012.0331) TNG Mystery Dinner Party – ‘The Orb of Knowledge’

As the Captain of a starship, you’re afforded a few privileges that they don’t typically mention in the literature at your local Starfleet recruiting office. It turns out that one of those privileges is recruiting a private chef, and then ordering operations to deactivate all the replicators for the day so that you can show of your new chef to your senior staff.

And that’s exactly what I did when I recruited Ensign Chef Scott Spencer. And then, like that hack Emeril, I kicked it up a notch to warp 11. Instead of just serving the senior staff a meal of intergalactic proportions, I decided to secretly transport and trap them in a holodeck while they ate. Just as appetizers were being served, my senior staff found themselves assuming the roles of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D circa the late 2360s, just as they returned from their now famous away mission to recover the mythical and elusive Orb of Knowledge.

Cmdr Jon Sung was transformed into LtCmdr Data, while LtCmdr Tom Hesser became LtCmdr Geordi LaForge. Capt. Erik Roberts was Lt. Worf, En. Cindy Bee was En. Ro, En. Kristin Koperski as Counselor Troi, En. Jesse MacKinnon as Cmdr. Riker, En. Amy Sloan as Dr. Crusher, and Lt(jg) Ben Roodman played Guinan, complete with iconic hat! Meanwhile, I assumed the role of ‘Admiral Di Lithium’ to oversee the simulation, while Lt. Samantha Dolgoff, En. Andy Smith, En. Carla Newman, Crewman Ian Sayre, and Crewman Jessie Philipp served as supervisory staff.

Back in the galley, Ensign Chef Scott Spencer, assisted by Crewman Jenny Wilson and Crewman Chris Leung as his kitchen staff, began serving us amazing dishes from all over the Alpha and Beta quadrants. From Andorian tuber root to asparagus in yamuk sauce, targ in blood wine to the exotic ‘Parthas a la Yuta’, it was a five star meal that an Admiral would dream of.

While we washed down our meal with a healthy mix of Klingon Bloodwine, Château Picard, and Federation Standard Synthale, the crew gradually unraveled the mystery of the disappearance of the Orb of Knowledge from the Enterprise-D. ***SPOILER ALERT*** They were all guilty! However, I choose to omit from my log exactly how and in what way they were guilty; you’ll have to pick up your own vintage copy of the ‘How To Host a Star Trek TNG Mystery’ holo-program to find out!

~Capt. Zach Perkins
Commanding Officer
USS Loma Prieta
Starfleet, Region 4

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Away Team Report: (2012.0223) Academy of Sciences – ‘Robots!’

Yep, we went again. At this rate, I’m starting to think that we should just re-name the USS Loma Prieta’s ship’s bar to “the Academy”. Our ‘bar’ would be like Ten Forward, the arboretum, AND the holodeck combined. Best ship’s lounge ever, amirite??

An away team lead by myself, Capt. Zach Perkins, and accompanied by LtCmdr. Tom Hesser, Lt. Samantha Dolgoff, En. Cindy Bee, and En. Kristin Koperski beamed down to the luxurious landing pads of the California Academy of Science to survey their impressive array of artificial lifeforms and various other automated works of art.

Lt. Dolgoff and I first rendezvoused with Admiral David Nottage of the USS Golden Gate, and together we attended an in-depth holographic simulation and briefing on NASA’s 21st century robotic missions to explore Sector 001. Afterwards, we re-grouped with the rest of the USS Loma Prieta crew for a bite to eat at the Academy’s mess hall. The crew proceeded to sample some fine Earth beverages until our servos were sufficiently ‘lubricated’ to proceed with our survey.

Our first discovery was a set of robots made out of household items, like kitchen dish brushes, which were thoroughly amusing. We again encountered the same pre-Borg spheres that we had discovered during our previous Academy away mission (this time they threatened us with an eerie electronic cry of “EXTERMINATE!!!”), as well as an R2-D2 style droid made out of a discarded Heineken mini-keg, and even a pair of small spider-like robots that seemed intent on trying to mate with our shoes.

Before the evening concluded, we learned that the Academy of Sciences would soon be hosting a Night Life celebration for Yuri’s Night, on April 12th, which is a global celebration Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. We immediately knew that this wouldn’t be the last time the Loma Prieta paid a visit to the Academy…

~Capt. Zach Perkins
Commanding Officer
USS Loma Prieta
Starfleet, Region 4