Since
Galileo first glimpsed the rings of Saturn in 1610, the beauty
of the outer Solar System’s giant planets – Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – has captivated us. Now scientists
are seeing beyond their beauty to gain a deeper understanding
of their importance. Tools such as the Hubble Space Telescope,
the Keck Observatory, and the Cassini spacecraft are helping
us understand the origins of our Solar System and the formation
of stars and planets. The National Science Foundation has awarded
a $1.8M grant to the Space Science Institute to develop a 3,500
sq. ft. traveling exhibition about the giant planets that will
bring these new discoveries to the public and the classroom.
The exhibition will begin its national tour in 2007.
With Giant Planets: Exploring the Outer Solar System, the
Space Science Institute will bring recent discoveries and cutting-edge
planetary science to museums and science centers around the
country, particularly mid-sized venues that serve both urban
and rural areas. Two of the Institute’s research scientists
will serve as science advisors to the project: Dr. Carolyn Porco,
who is the Imaging Team Leader for the Cassini mission; and
Dr. Heidi Hammel, who serves as the Interdisciplinary Scientist
for the James Webb Space Telescope, which will replace Hubble.
Planetary scientist Scott Bolton (Southwest Research Institute)
will also advise the project.
The
Institute will collaborate with educators and scientists to create
an education program to accompany the exhibit that consists of
workshops for museum educators and teachers, and outreach programs
to Girl Scouts and Native Americans. The Institute will also create
a virtual exhibit Web site for the project that extends the exhibit’s
scope and reach and provides resources and dissemination for the
education program. Giant Planets will include a number of
hands-on, interactive components and incorporate data, imagery,
and animations from the Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, and Cassini
missions. The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC)
will manage the tour. And finally, NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory has agreed to provide its Cassini planetarium show
to the Giant Planets project
as part of the package sent to museums that rent the exhibition.
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