Cosmosphere Flag Flies on Final Mission of Atlantis

The Cosmosphere has received the FATP 25th Anniversary Flag flown on the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission that launced May 14. It just arrived at the Cosmosphere still encased in the fire retardant plastic everything goes up in. The flag is white, but the plastic is pink, which gives it a rosy hue. Around the edges, where it's sealed, you can see the pink more clearly.

Stephen Bowen, a Mission Specialist for STS-132, made arrangements for the flag to go into space on the final flight of Atlantis.



It's item number 47 on this list. It came with a certificate of authenticity signed by Bowen.

Bowen is the first Submarine Officer selected by NASA in July 2000 as a mission specialist. This is his second space flight. His first was STS-126 in 2008. Bowen has logged a total of 27 days, 14 hours, 57 minutes and 39 seconds in space, including 34 hours and 30 minutes of EVA in 5 space walks.



This summer marks the 25th anniversary of camps at the Cosmosphere. Needless to say, we're thrilled to have this flag flown on a mission. The flag will eventually be on display at the Cosmosphere.



Read more about the flight, and see photos at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts132/main/index.html.

Teresa Sindelar Leaving the Cosmosphere for Dream Job as NASA Education Specialist

Teresa Sindelar first came to the Cosmosphere as an 11 year old attending space camp in 1989. Now, she’s headed to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to be a NASA Education Specialist in the Teaching from Space Office.

Growing up in Nebraska, Teresa loved space, and wanted to go to camp. One year she and her mom were shopping in Omaha and Astronaut Tom Stafford was signing autographs in a jewelry store. He told her about the Cosmosphere and the next summer she was at camp. She said, “It was great. I loved every minute of it.”



In fact, she came back a couple of years later for a Level 2 camp, and then worked as a counselor for three years. In 2002 she became a full-time employee in the education department at the Cosmosphere. She left five years later to teach in the Buhler school system while she worked on her master’s degree, but returned to the Cosmosphere in the summers to help with camp. But her dream was always to work at NASA.

Astronaut Clay Anderson, who she got to know when she was working at the University of Nebraska Planetarium, gave her some sage advice. She says, “He told me, ‘Do what you love, and NASA will find you.’”

It was during her first year as a counselor at the Cosmosphere that she says she discovered she had a “natural talent” for teaching. But she says she “never thought I could teach and teach what I love.” In college she learned she was not an engineer or scientist. Although she had wanted to work at NASA for a long time, she said, “I never thought there’d be a job for me. I’m not an engineer. I’m not a scientist. I’m an educator.”

But she didn’t give up. She kept checking job listings and sought at least five different jobs over the years. She says, “I don’t even remember how many times I applied. I applied for jobs at NASA all the time and always got turned down,” most recently in January of this year. She applied for an education job and even though it required a lot of travel, which she wasn’t thrilled about, she wanted it. When they chose someone else she was crushed. “I thought it was done for me. Then this comes along, that’s 150 times better suited.”

"I have a very unusual skill set,” she says. "Everything I’ve ever done has led to securing this job. I don’t think I would have gotten it without my background at the Cosmosphere.” She said when she left the Cosmosphere to teach it was very difficult to leave, but she knew she needed to be in a classroom to get to her ultimate goal. She said the experiences at the Cosmosphere and Buhler made her a different kind of teacher. “Not a lot of people go to school to be an educator for NASA and there aren’t a lot of those jobs. Not a lot of people have that kind of resume,” she says.

In her new position she’ll be working closely with the astronauts, helping develop the curriculum they’ll use when they’re teaching from orbit. Part of her job is to help the astronauts talk to students at an understandable level. She says, “It’s a cool subject. To see kids get excited about it is the ultimate goal.”

Asked if it’s her dream job she says, “It’s pretty darned close. I think this is what I am supposed to do.”

Teresa says her husband, Dan, is alternately excited and not. As she says, “It’s easy for everyone else to say ‘congratulations,’ but his life is being uprooted.” But, she laughs and says, “He knew this. He married this kid who wants to go into outer space.”

Everyone at the Cosmosphere is so excited for Teresa. She will join other Cosmosphere alums now working with NASA.

Congratulations, Teresa!

Best wishes to Teresa, Dan, son Mason and daughter Layla, for their new life in Houston. We’re going to miss having Teresa around the Cosmosphere.

NASA – you’re getting a good one!

Voyager 1 Milestone on July 13

Voyager 1 will complete 12,000 days of continuous operations on July 13, 2010. The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a robotic space probe, weighing more than 1,500 pounds, launched September 5, 1977. Even after nearly 33 years, it still receives commands from, and transmits information to, Earth.

Its original mission was to visit Jupiter and Saturn, and it was the first probe to provide detailed images of the moons of these planets. Voyager 1 is currently pursuing its extended mission to locate and study the boundaries of the solar system.

Voyager 1 began photographing Jupiter in January 1979, and continued taking photos of Jupiter and its moons into April that year. Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, made a number of important discoveries about Jupiter, its satellites, its radiation belts, and its never-before-seen planetary rings. The most surprising discovery in the that area was the existence of volcanic activity on the moon Io, which had not been observed either from the ground or by earlier probes.

Both Voyagers went on to visit Saturn and its system of moons and rings. In November of 1980 Voyager 1 had its closest approach to Saturn and came within 77,000 miles of Saturn's cloud-tops.

The space probe's cameras detected complex structures in the rings of Saturn, and its remote sensing instruments studied the atmospheres of Saturn and its giant moon Titan. Voyager 1 provided photos of Titan's thick haze and images of Saturn's rings.

On February 14, 1990, Voyager 1 took the first ever "family portrait" of our solar system as seen from outside, which includes the famous image known as the "Pale Blue Dot." NASA turned the camera back toward Earth and took the picture in which it shows up as the "Pale Blue Dot" at the request of Carl Sagan. Sagan used the phrase as part of the title for his 1994 book.

It is estimated that both Voyager craft have sufficient electrical power to operate their radio transmitters until at least after 2025, which will be over 48 years after launch.

On November 17, 1998, Voyager 1 became the most distant man-made object from Earth. It is currently the most distant functioning space probe to receive commands and transmit information to Earth. Provided Voyager 1 doesn't collide with any stellar objects, the newest space probes will not pass it within a human lifespan, despite being launched from Earth at a faster speed than either Voyager spacecraft.

Coffee at the Cosmo - July 15

Coffee at the Cosmo on Thursday, July 15, is entitled, “As Seen on NASA TV: NASA Sources for Spin-off Technologies.” It is at 9 a.m. at the Cosmosphere and is free and open to the public.

The ingenuity required to put a man on the moon resulted in numerous products we still use today. NASA engineers had to “think outside the box” in a major way. If you’re walking around with scratch-resistant lenses in your eyeglasses, have ever had an ultrasound or an MRI, used a TV satellite dish, benefited from Dopplar Radar, dressed your child in fire-retardant clothing, used a cordless power tool, or have a smoke detector hanging in your house you can thank the space program.

By the same token, some things associated with the space race were not actually a product of it. For example, Velcro was invented at the same time, and used extensively by NASA, but it was not developed by or for NASA.

Artifacts not currently on display will be used to illustrate the topic of spin-offs. You’ll have an opportunity for a close-up look after the presentation.

Coffee at the Cosmo is an ongoing series of free presentations at the Cosmosphere. It’s the third Thursday of every month at 9 a.m. and is always free. Enjoy coffee and pastries, meet new friends, and learn something new.

Happy Fourth of July

The Cosmosphere was in the Fourth of July parade in Hutchinson Saturday morning. Happy Fourth!

Nice Things People Say

Jeff Pickard and family enjoyed some time at the Cosmosphere last summer, and wrote nice things about the visit. We love it when people write nice things.

Jeff and his family are obviously astute travelers! Hope they can make a return visit soon.

Voyager 2 Completes 12,000 Days

On June 28, 2010, Voyager 2 completed 12,000 days of continuous operations since its launch on August 20, 1977.

In the summer of 1989, Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe the planet Neptune, its final planetary target. Passing about 3,000 mile above Neptune's north pole, Voyager 2 made its closest approach to any planet since leaving Earth 12 years agao. Five hours later, Voyager 2 passed about 25,000 miles from Neptune's largest moon, Triton, the last solid body the spacecraft will have an opportunity to study.

For nearly 33 years, the venerable spacecraft has been returning unprecedented data about the giant outer planets,the properties of the solar wind between and beyond the
planets and the interaction of the solar wind with interstellar winds in the heliosheath.

Having traveled more than 21 billion kilometers on its winding path through the planets toward interstellar space, the spacecraft is now nearly 14 billion kilometers from the sun.

Traveling at the speed of light, a signal from the ground takes about 12.8 hours to reach the spacecraft.

Patti Wamsley Recognized for 30 Years of Volunteer Service to Cosmosphere

Patti Wamsley has been a Cosmosphere volunteer for thirty years. Wow! Isn't that incredible?

We're so thankful for her long term service. Patty Carey, who started the planetarium that grew into the Cosmosphere, recruited her. Over the years Patti has helped with a wide variety of tasks.

She was presented with a space shuttle model, autographed by Astronaut Jeff Ashby, who flew this particular shuttle.

Thank you, Patti!

Legends of Flight opens in Cosmosphere IMAX June 21

“Legends of Flight” opens at the Cosmosphere’s Carey IMAX® Dome Theater on Monday, June 21. Fly with the Boeing Company’s chief test pilot Captain Mike Carriker, a Kansas native, as he soars through the Rocky Mountains, executes a vertical takeoff in a Harrier Jump Jet, and maneuvers an antique wooden bi-plane. Flying sequences are capped off as viewers are alongside Carriker on the 787 Dreamliner’s maiden flight. Carriker is a legendary contemporary pilot, flight rated in more than 100 airplanes. He graduated from Wichita State University in 1978.

“Legends of Flight” explores the relationships between natural flight, advanced design, assembly techniques and technologies that have ushered in a new era of aircraft design. In the hundred-year-plus history of aviation, truly radical new aircraft designs come along only once in a generation. Since the introduction of the wide bodies of the late 1960s and early 1970s (followed by the Boeing 777 in 1994), there have been no truly "game changing" new passenger airliner designs until now, with the development of the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

See how a century of aviation trial and error, and some of the seminal airplanes of the 20th century, influenced the design of the Dreamliner. Viewers will see the first public flight of the massive, but super efficient Airbus A380 at the 2007 Paris Air Show and the first flight of the smaller, even more efficient 787, the first-ever carbon fiber airliner that made its maiden flight in 2009.

“Legends of Flight” will also give audiences an insider's view of how a modern aircraft is built, and make them privy to the manufacturing challenges and incredible financial risks companies assume when they embark on radical new designs. In the end, this unique cinematic experience shows how the 787 might affect the next 100 years of aeronautical design.

Produced and directed by Stephen Low, in association with the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the film will engage all who have an interest in flight, regardless of age or gender.

Father's Day Special at Cosmosphere

The Cosmosphere is honoring Dads with a buy one, get one free pass on Father's Day, Sunday, June 20. Bring dad to see a movie in the Carey IMAX® Dome Theater, a planetarium show, Dr. Goddard's lab and the Hall of Space museum. Dad gets in free with a paid admission.

The Cosmosphere has the most comprehensive collection of American and Russian space artifacts in the world, and is the only Smithsonian affiliated museum in Kansas. About 150,000 people visit from all over the world each year.


Currently showing in the Carey IMAX® Dome Theater are the movies Hubble and Vikings. Hubble has footage from three different shuttle missions and takes you into space like only an IMAX® movie can do. Vikings captures the history of these magnificent ship builders.

The Justice Planetarium Theatre is offering a new show, "Beneath a Kansas Sky," created by Cosmosphere staff. Dr. Goddard's lab is a perennial favorite with all ages. It is a live show that details the history of rocketry and includes controlled explosions, guaranteed to excite.

Take time to enjoy the Cosmosphere with the family this Father's Day. Dads get in free with any paid admission to any or all venues at the Cosmosphere on Sunday.

Coffee at the Cosmo - June 17 - Free

Coffee at the Cosmo on Thursday, June 17, is entitled, “In This Episode of MacGyver: NASA’s Use of Off-The-Shelf Technology to Fly in Space.” It is at 9 a.m. at the Cosmosphere and is free and open to the public.

These off-the-shelf items were sometimes used to “save the mission,” a prime example being Apollo 13. Other discussions will be Apollo 11’s broken circuit switch, Apollo 16’s suit issue, and Apollo 17’s broken fender. The astronauts were MacGyver long before there was a MacGyver. They saved the mission with whatever they had available.

Artifacts not currently on display will be used to illustrate the topic.
Just a few of those included this month are:
CO2 Element Absorber (think Apollo 13 survival scenario)
Randall Knife
LB7 personal kit items (i.e. soap, bandage, matches, etc.)
You’ll have an opportunity for a close-up look after the presentation.

Coffee at the Cosmo is an ongoing series of free presentations at the Cosmosphere. It’s the third Thursday of every month at 9 a.m. and is always free. Enjoy coffee and pastries, meet new friends, and learn something new.

FATP campers launch weather balloon

These are some clips from a weather balloon launched at Kennedy Space Center by some of the Cosmosphere campers in the Future Astronaut Training Program (FATP) Level 4 in 2007.

Anniversary of Kennedy's Speech about Space

On May 25, 1961 President John F Kennedy announced the goal of landing a man on the Moon before a joint session of Congress. When he made the speech, America had a 39% success rate and had spent a total of 15 minutes in space.

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

Of course, America did commit itself to that and reached the goal, with a few months to spare, in July of 1969.

FATP Campers Train - Zip Line included

Part of the FATP Level 2 camp is ropes course training, including a zip line. These students are from WIGGS Middle School in El Paso, Texas. They were training on May 12, 2010.

Honoring Space Shuttle Atlantis on May 14

Space Shuttle Atlantis is set to launch on its final mission Friday, May 14. Atlantis was the fourth shuttle built and the primary orbiter for the Shuttle-Mir missions.

The Cosmosphere is offering a free presentation beginning at 12:45 p.m. on Friday, May 14, that will culminate in a live view of the launch at 1:20 p.m. If the launch is scrubbed, we’ll postpone the event and have it posted on our website at www.cosmo.org.

Cosmosphere staff will talk about the legacy of Atlantis and the highlights of this mission.

Atlantis launched its first flight Oct 3, 1985, which began a mission dedicated to the Department of Defense, the first of several such missions flown by Atlantis. In 1989 Atlantis deployed the Magellan probe that went to Venus, and the Galileo probe that went to Jupiter. Two years later an Atlantis crew deployed the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.

As part of the Shuttle-Mir program, Atlantis flew seven missions to the Russian space station Mir between 1995 and 1997. Atlantis has flown ten missions to the International Space Station, including delivering the Quest Joint Airlock and the European Columbus laboratory to the station. In May 2009 Atlantis flew the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The current mission of Atlantis, STS-132, is delivering the Russian-built Mini Research module and supplies in an Integrated Cargo Carrier to the station. The twelve-day mission has six crew members and will include three spacewalks to store spare batteries, an antenna, and parts for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm on the outside of the station.

Join Cosmosphere staff and other space enthusiasts at 12:45 p.m. on May 14 to experience this historic moment together as Atlantis begins its final mission.

Pad Leader Guenter Wendt is Dead at Age 85

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is mourning the loss today of the space program’s historic Pad Leader, Guenter Wendt. Guenter was in charge of all pad operations prior to launch and ensured the astronauts and spacecraft of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and early Shuttle missions were ready on launch day. Guenter died early this morning at his Florida home. He was 85.

Several items from Guenter’s personal space history collection have been donated to the Cosmosphere and are on display in the Apollo gallery. He has spoken at the Cosmosphere several times and, most recently, participated in the gala Apollo 13 40th anniversary celebration at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson on April 16 and 17. He also spoke on numerous occasions to student groups from the Cosmosphere who were visiting Kennedy Space Center as part of the Cosmosphere’s summer camp program. He was a strong supporter and inspired thousands of students to pursue careers in the space, science, math, engineering and technology fields.

“Guenter was one of the key individuals in America’s space program,” said Chris Orwoll, President and CEO at the Cosmosphere. “His story of emigrating to the U.S. after World War II, working his way up through the ranks at McDonnell Douglas, and playing such a key part in our space program are inspiring. He was the right person, in the right place, at the right time and was a key element in the success of our Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle programs.”

"He was inspiring, joyful and loved to challenge young people to be the inventors and thinkers of tomorrow," noted Marisa Honomichl, Vice President of Marketing at the Cosmosphere. "He told me his latest challenge to the engineering students he was speaking with was to develop cold fusion to the point it could be used as the cleanest most efficient form of energy on our planet and then...devise a way for that energy to be transmitted without wires."



Guenter hugs a young fan during the Cosmosphere's celebration April 17, 2010.

GUENTER F. WENDT was the "Pad Leader" during the Mercury, Gemini and manned Apollo missions. He was the last person to see the astronauts before they blasted into space. He was born in Germany, came to the U.S. in 1949, and became a citizen in 1955. As soon as he got US citizenship, he was hired as an engineer for McDonnell Aircraft and was given primary responsibility for spacecraft test, checkout, and launch operations for all Mercury and Gemini manned flights. After the 1967 Apollo 1 accident, he was hired by North American Rockwell and oversaw spacecraft launch preparations for all the manned Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz flights. He was in charge of flight crew safety during the Shuttle ALT and all operational flights of the Shuttle until his retirement in 1989.

Wendt came to be regarded as a welcomed good luck figure to mission crews. He joked with crew members and wished them a successful trip as he directed the final procedures before launch. He and the astronauts often exchanged gag gifts while they were in the “White Room,” the last place the astronauts were before being sealed in the spacecraft. The Cosmosphere has one of the two remaining White Rooms on display, as well as the gifts astronauts gave to Wendt before the historic Apollo 11 mission.

Wendt's was the final word for the launch tower white room team responsible for loading and securing the mission crews, ensuring that spacecraft instrumentation, switches and controls were correct for launch, and securing the hatch. Nobody touched anything without his permission. In January of 1967, Wendt, still with McDonnell, was supervising the test range in Titusville, Florida. Since NASA changed contractors on the Apollo program to North American Rockwell, he was not involved with the Apollo 1 spacecraft, in which a cabin fire caused the deaths of Gus Grissom, Edward H. White, and Roger Chaffee.

Grissom's backup and replacement on the Apollo 7 flight, Mercury and Gemini veteran Wally Schirra, insisted after the accident on having Wendt back in charge of the pad crew for his flight, and convinced astronaut leader Deke Slayton to get North American to hire him.

Crewmembers of the other Apollo missions shared an equally high regard for Wendt, and he stayed on with the formal Pad Leader title through the end of the Apollo missions. He continued to work at the cape into the early Space Shuttle flights.

Wendt later served as a technical consultant for several TV and movie features and wrote in his biography The Unbroken Chain about his time at NASA. He remained a personal friend of many American astronauts, and is a recipient of NASA's "Letter of Appreciation" award. He was a close friend and supporter of the Cosmosphere and his inspirational nature and vision for the future will be fondly remembered.

40th Anniversary of Apollo 13 at Cosmosphere

Saturday was the big day the Cosmosphere has been preparing for - the 40th Anniversary of the day Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert returned to Earth from their Apollo 13 mission. The Cosmosphere hosted a reunion of 15 people involved with Apollo 13, and other astronauts who wanted to honor them.



The two surviving astronauts, Lovell (left) and Haise, peered inside Odyssesy, the Apollo 13 Command Module housed at the Cosmosphere. It was the first time Haise had seen it since he got out of it in 1970.

Earlier in the day, eight mission controllers from Apollo 13, along with pad leader Guenter Wendt and author Andrew Chaikin, participated in a panel discussion. It was amazing to hear history from those who lived it.



Left to right: Joe Kerwin, Gene Kranz, Gerry Griffin, Sy Liebergot, Andrew Chaikin, Milt Windler, Jack Lousma, Ed Fendell, Jerry Bostick and Guenter Wendt.

Saturday kicked off with a rocket launch, where the Bednarczyk family from the Kansas City area got to meet Flight Director Milt Windler. That's Dan and Collette, their son, Cole, and daughter, Piper.



Thanks to everyone who came to honor these heroes.

Free Stargazing Event April 23

The Cosmosphere is participating in HutchGEO month, to Get Everyone Outside this month. On Friday, April 23, join the Cosmosphere for a free star gazing event, weather permitting. Meet in the Cosmosphere parking lot on the south east corner of 11th and Plum at 8:30 p.m. You’ll be able to see the night sky through professional quality telescopes, with the guidance of Cosmosphere staff. It’s free and open to the public.

Venus will be visible in the south west. It will be the brightest object in the night sky after the moon. Mars will also be visible, high in the south. There’s also a good chance of spotting meteors that night because the Lyrid Meteor Shower will be finishing.

The Cosmosphere hosts a number of special events throughout the year that are free and open to the public. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about the night sky from a Cosmosphere expert.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future of Space Exploration. Educating people from around the globe, the Cosmosphere boasts the Hall of Space museum, one of the most significant collections of U.S. and Russian space artifacts in the world; the Justice Planetarium, a dome-shaped classroom where attendants learn about astronomy; Dr. Goddard’s Lab, a live demonstration of early rocket technology; the Carey IMAX® Dome Theater, one of the first ones built in the world; and a multitude of special programs, including camps.

The SR-71 Blackbird Gets a Dusting

When you walk in the door at the Cosmosphere, the SR-71 Blackbird is hanging overhead. Like anything else, it occasionally requires a little cleaning. This afternoon was the time.



Dante, Dustin and Bill were making everything spic and span for this weekend's Apollo 13 celebration.





It was America's first "stealth" plane, although its greatest defensive technique was its speed - literally faster than a speeding bullet.





Bill also worked on the T-38 to get it ready for this weekend.

Coffee At the Cosmo - April

Coffee at the Cosmo on Thursday, April 15, is entitled, “You Rock My World:” Lunar Sample Collection and Transfer. It is at 9 a.m. at the Cosmosphere and is free and open to the public.

The Hall of Space Museum at the Cosmosphere displays a moon rock from Apollo 11, the first mission when man walked on the moon. Few rocks from that mission are available for viewing around the world.

Coffee at the Cosmo is an ongoing series of free presentations at the Cosmosphere. It’s the third Thursday of every month at 9 a.m. and is always free. Enjoy coffee and pastries, meet new friends, and learn something new.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing patrons' knowledge of space exploration. Educating people from around the globe, the Cosmosphere boasts the Hall of Space museum, one of the most significant collections of U.S. and Russian space artifacts in the world; the Justice Planetarium, a dome-shaped classroom where attendees learn about astronomy; Dr. Goddard's Lab, a live demonstration of early rocket technology; the Carey IMAX® Dome Theater, one of the first ones built in the world; and summer astronaut training camps. For more information visit www.cosmo.org.