Note to Editors: CU-Boulder space scientist Daniel Baker, Space Science Institute Director Paul Dusenbery and NOAA scientist Ernie Hildner will make brief remarks on space weather and education on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at the Denver Museum of Natural History聮s Bailey Lounge. Media are invited to attend the private event, sponsored by SSI, Raytheon ITSS, Condit Exhibits and Suter Communications.
A space weather research and education exhibit developed by Boulder scientists and educators with NASA is now on display at the Denver Museum of Natural History.
The 750-square-foot exhibit, showing how solar disturbances affect humans on Earth, is timely in that 2000 and 2001 mark a time of maximum solar activity.
The Space Science Institute, a non-profit organization headquartered in CU聮s Research Park, developed the Space Weather Center exhibit with funding from NASA聮s Goddard Space Flight Center and the National Science Foundation. The exhibit incorporates engaging interactives, stunning graphics and near real-time data from NASA missions currently studying the sun, the aurora and near-Earth space environment, said SSI Director Paul Dusenbery.
The exhibit also includes an updatable CD-ROM display developed in collaboration with the University of Michigan to show the latest solar and auroral activities. "We will be doing an all-day space weather workshop with local educators at the Denver Museum on May 6 to encourage learning about the sun and basic concepts in science and mathematics," said SSI Manager for Education and Outreach Cherilynn Morrow.
"The Space Weather Center exhibit is a terrific learning opportunity for the public to see how space weather driven by the sun聮s activity affects all of us on Earth," said CU-Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics Director Daniel Baker.
The exhibit, which has been at the Denver Museum since March, will begin traveling around the country at the end of May, going to Sacramento and Maryland science museums and possibly the Boston Museum of Science.
SSI hopes to rent the exhibit to museums worldwide and to construct identical exhibits for purchase. For more information contact Dusenbery at (303) 492-2013, Baker at (303) 492-0591, or Jim Scott in the CU-Boulder News Office at (303) 492-3114.