August 23, 2000
BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham and McWane Center have joined together to make Birmingham the first stop on the national tour of the new 4,500-square-foot MarsQuest traveling science exhibition. MarsQuest will visit nine cities over the next three years. The Space Science Institute (SSI) of Boulder, Colo., developed MarsQuest with major funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
MarsQuest will premier at McWane Center in downtown Birmingham Sept. 30 and will be on exhibition through Dec. 31. The 180,000-square-foot McWane Center is a hands-on, interactive science center that provides adventures in science through exhibits, educational programs and demonstration areas, science resources for classroom instruction and IMAX® film presentations.
The exhibition visit to Birmingham is co-sponsored by the School of Natural Science and Mathematics and the Center for Community Outreach and Development at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Many UAB scientists work closely with NASA, including astrophysicist Thomas Wdowiak, Ph.D., a member of the NASA Athena Team, and former Columbia astronaut Larry DeLucas, Ph.D., O.D., whose crystallography experiments fly on almost every shuttle mission.
MarsQuest: Exploring the Red Planet
MarsQuest is organized around several intriguing locations on Mars: Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system; Valles Marineris, a canyon as long as the United States is wide; and Ares Vallis, the Pathfinder landing site. Each area makes comparisons between Mars and Earth, giving visitors a real sense of the Martian environment.
More than 20 interactive experiences and four models invite visitors to play the part of explorers. Visitors can send commands to maneuver a rover over a simulation Martian landscape. They can experiment with collage puzzles to learn how scientists assemble larger planetary views from many small images.
MarsQuest visitors also can feel simulated Martian soil from the Johnson Space Center in Houston and experience a large-scale volcanic eruption. The exhibit also includes a self-contained theater with high-definition equipment video provided by Mitsubishi that presents a series of “imagination trips” to destination sites on Mars. These experiences and spectacular murals help visitors visualize important geologic features on Mars and Earth.
Additional components include a 30-minute planetarium show from Loch Ness Productions narrated by actor Patrick Stewart, best known as Capt. Picard of the TV program “Star Trek, The Next Generation.” The MarsQuest Education Program is helping teachers share the thrill of scientific discovery with their students through the full-day teachers workshop on Sept. 30.
With the Space Science Institute, McWane Center will prepare teachers for the classroom through the MarsQuest Teacher Workshop, including classroom activities that are linked to exhibit. McWane Center’s Challenger Learning Center Alabama will also feature 2-hour simulated Missions to Mars for school groups booking the facility during the exhibit.
McWane Center and UAB also will provide educational programs and speakers in conjunction with the MarsQuest exhibition, including a laboratory for school groups to explore extremophiles, organisms that live in extreme environments on earth. Many scientists think that extremophiles’ thriving in earth’s harshest climates means life might have existed on Mars. UAB astrophysicist Thomas Wdowiak will lend a Martian meteorite from his collection for display at McWane Center.
Why Mars?
Of all the planets in our solar system, Mars is the most like Earth. Mars has weather, seasons, a 24-hour day and significant amounts of water – liquid water in the past, surface ice and water vapor in the atmosphere today. Although conditions on Mars cannot support life now, evidence suggests that Mars was warmer, wetter and had a much denser atmosphere early in its history. Life may have existed. The search for life on Mars has broad implications for questions about ecological evolution on Earth and the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. The MarsQuest exhibition, intimately linked to the progress and discoveries of NASA’s Mars missions, has great potential as an engaging, real-life context for learning about science, math and technology.
About McWane Center
The 180,000-square-foot McWane Center is a hands-on interactive science center making learning an adventure through exhibits, educational programs and demonstration areas, science resources for classroom instruction and IMAX® film presentations. Named for the family foundation that donated the initial seed money, McWane Center opened in July 1998 in the former Loveman's store in downtown Birmingham. Future phases totaling an additional 120,000 square feet include major exhibition areas on Earth and the environment, technology, human life sciences and communication. McWane Center is located at 200 19th St. N. in downtown Birmingham.
About The University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a 30-year-old comprehensive, urban university and medical center that encompasses 75 city blocks, includes 12 schools, 75 research centers and has a student enrollment approaching 16,000. UAB’s external funding annually exceeds that of all other Alabama universities combined. For FY 2000, UAB received more than $300 million in research grant and contract awards.
About The Space Science Institute
The Space Science Institute is a non-profit corporation dedicated to integrating scientific research with education and public outreach. Its scientists conduct research in the areas of space physics, planetary science, astrophysics and earth science. The Institute develops classroom curricular materials and museum exhibits, and provides professional development opportunities for educators about science and for scientists about education.
“MarsQuest was designed by Jeff Kennedy Associates of Boston,” said Institute Director Paul Dusenbery, Ph.D. “Its tour is managed by the Association of Science-Technology Centers of Washington, D.C. The project includes collaborations with Mars experts from SSI, University of Colorado, Arizona State University and a number of other universities and organizations around the country.”
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Deborah Lucas, Media Relations, 205-934-8946 or dgl@uab.edu
NOTE: We are The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Please use UAB on second reference. We are not to be confused with the University of Alabama, which is a separate, independent campus. - McWane Center
- Ed Noles, Media and Public Relations, 205-714-8219 or neoles@mcwane.org
- Space Science Institute
- Susan Solari, museum site public relations office, 303-492-5184 or solari@colorado.edu
- Paul Dusenbery, Ph.D., project director, 303/492-2013 or dusenbery@colorado.edu.
- High-Resolution Images:
- Jaime Harold, Space Science Institute, 303-492-5348 or harold@colorado.edu
- MarsQuest Web Site:
- www.marsquest.org/
MarsQuest Schedule
2000- September 30 - December 31, 2000
- McWane Center
- Birmingham, AL
- Contact: Lamar Smith 205-714-8395
2001- February 1 - April 30, 2001
- Orlando Science Center
- Orlando, FL
- Contact: Kim Hunter
- 407-514-2059
- June 1 - August 31, 2001
- North Carolina Museum of Life and Science
- Durham, NC
- Contact: Roy Griffiths
- 919-220-5429 x369
- October 1 - December 31, 2001
- Catawba Science Center
- Hickory, NC
- Contact: Mark Sinclair
- 828-322-8169
2002- February 1 - April 30, 2002
- Virginia Air & Space
- Hampton, VA
- Contact: Allen Holman
- 757-727-0900
- June 1 – August 31, 2002
- OPEN
- October 1 - December 31, 2002
- OPEN
2003- February 1 – April 30, 2003 (t)
- Liberty Science Center
- Jersey City, NC
- Contact: Libby Lewis
- 201-451-0006
- June 1 – August 31, 2003
- Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
- Dayton, OH
- Contact: Mark Meister
- 937-275-7431 x17
(t) indicates tentative booking or contract pending