About the Captain

Born Into a Family of Makers

I have been taking things apart for as long as I can remember. I was an avid LEGO builder, fascinated by astronomy, monsters, spaceships and video games that made imaginary worlds feel enormous. Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda, Godzilla and Life Force certainly did not help my obsession with creating new worlds.

But making goes back farther than me. Both of my grandfathers came from generations that learned to farm, repair and build because sometimes there simply wasn’t another option. After World War II, one went to work for General Motors while the other continued with mechanics and farming. That ability to figure things out passed to my dad, and then to us.

The Spector Ray

My dad spent his youth building quarter midgets, radios and airplanes. After Vietnam and meeting my mom in Japan, that creative streak eventually became something much larger. With help from my godfather and friends, he created the Spector Ray — a roughly 40-to-50-foot house trailer transformed into a walk-through spaceship exhibit with a bridge, crew room, engineering section and more.

The Spector Ray became part of the world I grew up in. It was also where Nonot, my dad’s robot character, was born. Long before I had the tools I use today, I had already learned that a story did not have to stay on paper. You could build the world and invite people inside.

The Astroliner

I was born into the carnival business, so there isn’t really a clean starting point. I was around rides, equipment, repairs and show people from the time I could crawl. My grandfather helped my dad purchase his first Wisdom Astroliner. Years later, my dad helped me purchase and rebuild my first Astroliner. That ship became much more than a carnival ride to me — it became part of the Jupiter 7 story.

I eventually sold it, a decision I still regret. One of Jupiter 7’s long-term missions is simple: bring her home again. When that happens, I want the Astroliner to do more than entertain. I want to use it to support community projects, create experiences for families and perhaps inspire a kid who needs something good to remember.

Jupiter 7 Begins

By middle school I was drawing better, writing more and pulling inspiration from games, astronomy, the carnival and the strange collection of things I had grown up around. Around 1998, those ideas began taking shape as Jupiter 7.

Jupiter 7 became stories, characters, spacecraft and eventually books. But underneath the science fiction was something much simpler: a crew of people who build together, look after each other and show up when someone needs help.

Two Brothers, Different Tools

My brother, Mike Roll, is a maker too. His path led toward art and illustration, including caricatures and the work he creates today through The Art Factory. We use different tools, but we inherited much of the same instinct: create something from nothing, keep learning and share the result with other people.

Making and Community

Years working at Kinko’s and FedEx Office gave me plenty of opportunities to work with people and community projects. After moving to Central Florida, my wife introduced me to the Lake Placid Noon Rotary Club. Community service became another part of the same philosophy I had grown up with: if you have the ability to build, fix, organize or simply help, use it.

The Mission Now

Today Jupiter 7 is becoming physical again. The workshop combines woodworking, laser work, CNC, 3D printing, electronics, local honey and traditional handmade goods with interactive space and STEM projects. We are developing modular spacecraft kits, a hands-on landing simulator and new experiences designed to get people building, asking questions and using their imaginations.

There are bigger missions ahead: grow the workshop, build new projects, bring the Astroliner home one day and rebuild Nonot with the technology we have now.

I’m a maker. I’m a captain. I’m what’s left of the crew of Jupiter 7 — and I’m hoping to rebuild.

Still building. Still exploring.