[Chris Wilkinson]

EX ASTRIS, SCIENTIA
FROM THE STARS, KNOWLEDGE

Greetings All! Welcome to the combined seventh and eighth edition of the 2021 Academy News! I am Chris Wilkinson, Executive Officer of Starfleet Academy. This newsletter is an initiative from the Academy that is intended to keep you abreast of the latest news from across the United Federation of Planets.

NEW MEMBERS
We welcome the following new members who have joined (or re-joined) the UFP since the last edition:

• mcsabi
• AlexanderK9
• evilkitty73289
• Sanatoba
• Hozer
• JDubTheGaymer
• Stevo3107
• Kiflin Visk't
• Duelthane
• pianomaster01
• Goldy
• Igor-Nascimento
• Beessie
• JordonBrooker
• FairBol
• Rayko
• BravoKiloOne
• Flipkoala
• santyebou
• marteutime
  

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS

• New STO Personnel Officer:
  (From the STO Executive Officer Jestersmith)
  JordonBrooker:
  Jordon has stepped up to join the Personnel team he is someone some will be familiar with having held previous roles in SFHolo and SFA as EVE Support Staff and Recruit Support Officer he has recently returned to STO and has volunteered to help out maintaining the fleet rosters for this we thank him, having joined UFP in 2016 .
• New Ares Commanding Officer:
  (From the Head of Community Development Petrarch)
  Josh Broughm:
  We have a change to our CL5 roster incoming. WelshAvenger has decided to stand down as Commanding Officer of Ares and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him for his leadership and service to the division. Welsh volunteered for a number of years with Ares and stepped up to the roles of XO and later CO, on both occasions under difficult and unexpected circumstances, yet he took this in his stride and kept a steady hand at the helm. We wish him good luck and all the best in his future endeavours.
  
  Now the time has come for Ares to receive a new Captain and I'm pleased to announce that the Ares XO, Josh Broughm has agreed to become the new Ares CO. Though Josh only relatively recently undertook the XO position, he's been with Ares for some time now, he knows the team, the stories and has a determination to chart the course ahead. The USS Ares will remain in safe hands, so please join me in congratulating him on his new role.
  
  Josh, the Bridge is yours and good luck!
  
• VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
  The UFP would not be the place it is today without our volunteers who selflessly sacrifice their time to help out. Check out the currently open volunteer positions, and how to apply for one, here. If you don't find something there that aligns with your interests, you can always fill out the volunteer interest form to express your desire for something specific to help our community grow. Use the bottom section of the form for that and make sure you treat it just as importantly as an application for an open position. Put in as many details as possible and thank you for your interest!

UPCOMING EVENTS
The United Federation of Planets has a good number of events coming up! You can sign up for any of these events here:

• DRINK UP ME HEARTIES YO HO:
  On Sunday the 1st of August at 17:30 BST/UFP; Gaming Specialist Chris Wilkinson: The plan for this event is to have a lot of fun on the high seas in the Sea of Thieves. The goal is to complete the next mission in the new Tall Tale linked to Pirates of the Carribean.
  
  If we do have more than 4 people, we'll split up into crews and each one will do their own thing and if we're lucky, we'll end up in the same lobby. Also let me know if you plan to play on PC or Xbox before the night so we know whether we'll be using an Xbox Party or Teamspeak to communicate.
  
  See you on the high seas.
  
• WOW RAID NIGHT:
  On Friday the 6th of August at 1830 BST/UFP; Raid Leader Rattlehead We are taking on the denizens of Castle Nathria with the goal of defeating Sire Denathrius and re-establishing order in the Shadowlands.
  
  If you wish to join our raid team make sure to speak with Sammygm, Mack or Rattlehead and read this post in order to get an idea about what we are looking for and what you should expect when joining our ranks.
  
  We have started Heroic progress!
  
• R.A.F - Red Alert Friday:
  On Friday the 6th of August at 2000 BST/UFP; Special OPS Commander Miles: Greetings Captains and Welcome to Red Alert Friday!
  
  This event is open to everybody to have fun, but most of all destroy our enemies!
  
  What we can do:
  TFO runs (Advanced or Elite)
  Endeavors
  Patrol runs
  Discuss about builds and game's additions/features
  
  LLAP / QAPLA'
  
• WOW RAID NIGHT:
  On Saturday the 7th of August at 1830 BST/UFP; Raid Leader Rattlehead: We are taking on the denizens of Castle Nathria with the goal of defeating Sire Denathrius and re-establishing order in the Shadowlands.
  
  If you wish to join our raid team make sure to speak with Sammygm, Mack or Rattlehead and read this post in order to get an idea about what we are looking for and what you should expect when joining our ranks.
  
  We have started Heroic progress!
  
• SPECIAL OPERATIONS SATURDAY:
  On Saturday the 7th of August at 2000 BST/UFP; Special Ops Commander Phoenix: Greetings members! Welcome to Special Operations Saturday!
  
  This event is now hosted by Special OPS Commanders: Pedigo, Miles, Phoenix and Hektu.
  
  This is event is open everybody to have some fun and hang out with fleet mates!
  
  This is what we typically get up to:
  Any TFO requested by attendees
  Endeavours
  Accolade hunting
  Build Advice
  Elite content runs for some extra challenge!
  
  So, come along and hangout with us! We'd love to see you there

FEDERATION NEWS SERVICE ARTICLES
Our Federation News Service has a number of dedicated writers who've written the following articles for you to read. They're always a great read.

• Space Tourism: Recent Developments by Chris Wilkinson: A brief look at the most recent private space launches. You can read it here.
  
• Hubble Space Telescope is Back in Business by Pedigo: Famed telescope down for weeks likely due to glitchy power supply. You can read it here.
  
• The New RTX 3080Ti by Emmy: Nvidia introduces their newest addition: The RTX 3080Ti. You can read it here.
  
• Northrop Grumman Awarded NASA's $935 Million HALO 'Gateway' Contract by Silek: HALO, Gateway's human habitat module, is expected to launch in 2024. You can read it here.
  
• Georgia Pritchett Confirms Galaxy Quest Television Project by Silek: Pritchett confirms her collaboration with Simon Pegg on the new project. You can read it here.
  
• The TOS Tricorder Is On The Way! by Chris Wilkinson: A brief look at the Wand Company's upcoming Tricorder. You can read it here.
  
• ASUS Launches Its RTX 30 Series GPUs with Lite Hash Rate by Pedigo: Hoping to thwart miners and scalpers, ASUS releases new GPUs with reduced hash rates. You can read it here.
  
• Could Anti-Stars Explain Where All The Dark Matter Went? by Silek: Instruments aboard the ISS may have indicated the presence of anti-helium atoms in space. You can read it here.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you around the galaxy!