Posted
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2007; 8:45 a.m.
Learning center looks to recapture and honor past
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| Members of Congress and the Downey City Council at groundbreaking ceremony for Columbia Space Science Learning Center on April 14, 2007. The center is scheduled for completion on Feb. 1 2008, the five year aniversary of the Columbia Shuttle disaster. |
Site of former NASA plant
will be used to educate visitors about the history of the space program in Downey.
By Jeffrey Davenport
The L.A. Pilot
DOWNEY, Calif. - The United States space program has a long history in the city of Downey. From early rockets, to the Apollo space capsules, NASA has played an important role in the city.
When the Downey NASA plant closed in 1999, the city negotiated with the U.S. government about attaining the property, because it wanted to preserve the history of the city.
After nearly eight years of planning and discussion on the uses of the site, the Downey City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to begin construction of the Columbia Memorial Space Science Learning Center to honor the legacy of America’s aerospace program in Downey and Southern California.
“I would say that maybe half the people who live here in Downey today don’t know the history of the site,” Assistant to the City Manager Scott Pomrehn said. “To be honest, when I first got here, I didn’t know that any of (aerospace industry) happened here in Downey. This is part of problem, and part of what were trying to do here is to educate people.”
Backed by a $4 million grant from the federal government, the nearly $8 million building is expected to be completed in early 2008. The company Arquitectonica is responsible for the architecture and interior design, and Tower General Contractors of Sun Valley, Calif. will construct the building.
“We are pleased to have been selected to construct this distinguished building, which memorializes those who gave their lives for the exploration of space,” Tower Executive Vice President Alex Guerrero said in a statement. “The center will educate future generations about science and aerospace, making it a living tribute to their memory.”
Inside, students will work with space mission simulators at the “Challenger Learning Center,” and build robots using computers that will perform tasks in space at the “Mars Robotics Center.”
The center will also feature a history of aviation and space aeronautics in Downey, as well as a resource center for teachers. There will be oral accounts from people involved with the space projects, and the latest in multimedia technology. One such feature might include a live high-definition feed from the International Space Station.
“The kids in Downey will be exposed to a lot of stuff that will hopefully excite them,” Pomrehn said. “The mission of this is to get them excited about science and math. We’ve talked to people about other (space learning) sites that are getting old and are no longer appealing. We want hook the kids and give them something new. We don’t want them to think, ‘my iPod does more than this.’”
Pomrehn said that some of the simulators were so realistic that if an astronaut were rusty with his or her training, mission completion would be impossible. One such simulator places one group of students in “mission control” while another group attempts to “dock” with the space station.
While there are other space-related centers in California and the United States, Pomrehn feels that Downey’s will have a special aspect that none of the other centers can offer.
“The unique thing about our site is that the stuff was done right here,” he said. “The Apollo space capsule was built there. In (the movie) “Apollo 13,” when the guy walks in the room and dumps the box (with the parts inside) out on the table and says, ‘we gotta go,’ that (was not only) filmed in Downey, that actual solution was found in Downey.”
Although the completion is over a year away, Pomrehn said that the city is already thinking about the high-end people that they hope will attend the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Pomrehn said that they most important would be the families of the astronauts lost in the Columbia disaster of 2003, when the ship was destroyed on re-entry. He also expects California senators, the governor, local officials and possibly the president to make an appearance.
“This is a once in a lifetime, once in a career type of project for me and those who work here,” he said.
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