Florida State College Student has Dreams Out of this World

It takes strong academic discipline and great ambition to achieve what most children consider to be the ultimate career – astronaut. A long time dream of United States children since the 1960’s, astronaut is what Heather Smith hopes to accomplish, and she seems to be on the right path headed straight for NASA. Smith is a student here at Florida State College at Jacksonville, but is also a student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach as an advanced junior expected to graduate in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace studies and a master’s degree in business administration. However, her journey does not end when she graduates, and it did not even begin with college. It started in middle school.

Heather Smith at Saturday's Naval Air Show. She has only ever missed one air show.

As with many children and teenagers, field trips can inspire and spark an interest in subjects such as science. A sixth grade field trip to The Kenner Rivertown Museum and Space Station in New Orleans is what sparked a passion for space flight in Heather Smith. Following a second field trip in eighth grade, this time to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Smith made a commitment to work towards becoming an astronaut. By the time she was a sophomore in high school, she was interning at the Museum of Science and History here in Jacksonville in their planetarium department. Displaying a passion for space science, Smith stayed extra hours on weekends to learn how everything worked at the planetarium and how to speak to the audience, leading to a permanent job with MOSH as planetarium educator.

As planetarium educator, Smith has participated in leading summer camps for kids, including Young Astronaut Camp, Space Camp, Lego Robots and Colorful Chemistry, along with operating the controls for the planetarium shows and speaking to the audience about astronomy, space and space flight. Her journey at MOSH began with an internship, but it was not the only internship she held during her high school career. At 17 years old, Smith was the youngest and one of 12 in the state of Florida to be chosen for a week long engineering internship at NASA, fitting given that she will be attending college for a second time for an engineering degree after graduating in 2012. Clearly, she is on a mission.

Smith plans to join the United States Air Force as an officer. She has had great preparation for this as a member of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) in high school and the AFROTC in college. She says, “Of course, I want to work for NASA but the plan is to work for the Air Force as an officer to get my foot through the door. Plus, it’s more training and discipline that’s needed.” Discipline seems to be a natural quality for this ambitious young lady. Look for her in the space program in the coming years, for she is sure to be there.

Bryan-Gooding Planetarium has Latest Technology, Giving Jacksonville a Valuable Tool for Education

By Sarah Wiese and Heather Smith

The Jacksonville community is anxiously awaiting the opening of the new Bryan-Gooding Planetarium, originally scheduled to open on October 23. It will now be open to the public on November 11.  The planetarium will, of course, impress with laser shows and trips through the night sky. However, it will also be a valuable tool for students and educators in the community.

Jena Spacemaster Photo: Sarah Wiese

The planetarium has been closed for improvements since August 23 when the Museum of Science and History decommissioned the Jena Spacemaster Planetarium, one of only six Spacemasters in the world. Implemented in 1988, the Jena Spacemaster is now out of date. The new system will replace 66 pieces of equipment and use 1/5 of the energy. The Jena will now be part of a new exhibit, “Space Science Gallery”, educating the public on the history of spaceflight relative to the state of Florida and history of astronomy, along with the original Spitzer planetarium from 1951. The Bryan-Gooding Planetarium will be the fourth planetarium projector in MOSH’s 69 year history.
In place of the Jena Spacemaster will be a Konica Minolta Super MediaGlobe II. Utilizing the latest advancements in technology, the Minolta planetarium is state of the art with a price tag of $400,000, and is only the third in operation in the United States.

5.8mm Fisheye Lens Photo: Sarah Wiese

The lens alone, a 5.8mm circular fisheye lens with a 180 degree view, costs $100,000, and it is worth every penny. With technology tailored to today’s age of on demand information, it is not surprising that the Super Mediaglobe II will be able to access live NASA and Skype feed.
Visitors to the planetarium will be floored by the realistic experience set forth in front and above them on a dome that is 40 feet high and 60 feet across. The images projected on the dome jump out at you with resolution “four times better than the best HDTV”, according to the MOSH planetarium website.
Speaking to the Planetarium Advisor Committee on Friday, former planetarium director at MOSH now currently working as Planetarium Design/Engineering in Audio Visual Engineering (AVI) USA as an Agent for Konica Minolta Planetarium Co., Phil Groce, said that the planetarium is so advanced, its algorithms are so accurate they can project the alignment of the stars in plus or minus a million years. The purpose in this is to educate the audience on how active the universe is, although it appears static. This demonstration is truly amazing to watch. The stars move around the dome like little gnats circling, spinning and darting. Name a year and the planetarium can project that year’s sky, but this is only the beginning.
There are new shows that will be implemented with this new technology, including walking with dinosaurs, swimming the deep ocean and light speed travel into the depths of space.

Artist's Rendering of Finished Planetarium Photo: Sarah Wiese

Christy Leonard, history curator and collections manager for MOSH, said, “We are going to have a show called ‘Sea Monsters’ that will correspond with an exhibit called ‘Savage Ancient Seas’. Another show we are going to have is called ‘Molecularium’. It’s a really neat show where students can learn about the science of molecules.”
While many shows will be for entertainment purposes, such as laser light shows coordinated to the beats of music, much of the programming will benefit the community by providing a valuable resource for education to students in pre-school all the way through college and beyond. Current programming for the public and schools will now be increased from a previous six to a current twelve programs, and attendance will increase on Mondays due to Title One free planetarium programs.
The planetarium will also be utilized by professors from Florida State College at Jacksonville and University of North Florida to better educate and engage their students in the subject matter corresponding to their particular course or major. The facility is equipped to implement custom content coordinated with lectures by the professors and invited speakers and educators.
Phil Groce explained how streamlined and accessible this technology will be for educators, “This is a computer based system, and what that means, of course, is that anything you can render on a computer you can project with this type of system. So, it utilizes many of the types of software and the image generation capabilities that people are used to.” For example, Photoshop, familiar to many, can be used to create images in order to project them on the dome.
This new planetarium, implemented at MOSH, and now its own department separate from the museum, translates into major entertainment and education for the Jacksonville community. It is a remarkable tool that will prove to be very valuable for MOSH, Jacksonville, and the educational community.

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