Starry Heavens Newsletter
April 2018
WCC Arts Festival, "Oceans of Art" Saturday, April 7
Hokulani Imaginarium will host a very special presentation for only $3 Saturday, April 7, at 12:15p.m. as part of the Windward Community College's Paliku Art Festival, "Oceans of Art". Two short imaginarium shows: Secret of the Dragon and Losing the Dark will be shown and a short "live sky" segment will round out the schedule for the super low price of $3. You don't want to miss this special offering.
New Addition to Windward Community College Center for Aerospace Education Lab
Roger Garrett, builder of the model (actual size) of the Mercury Friendship 7 space capsule.
Stop by and see the life-size model of the historic Mercury spacecraft “Friendship 7”. The space capsule, made by Roger Garrett , was recently installed in the Center for Aerospace Education Laboratory where we are sure it will be an inspiration to the many school children, teachers and adults who visit the Center. We are very grateful for Mr. Garrett’s generosity. Roger is a retired software engineer who enjoys building large-scale models of space craft — both real and sci-fi. He grew up with the space race between the US and then Soviet Union, which inspired his interest in space travel. He lives in Honolulu. The original capsule is in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
February 2018 marked the 56
th anniversary of the
Mercury Spacecraft “Friendship 7”, NASA’s first manned orbital flight. On February 20, 1962 an
Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle blasted off from the John F. Kennedy Space Center, then called Cape Canaveral carrying a space capsule known as the
Mercury Friendship 7. The flight lasted a mere four hours and fifty-six minutes circling the Earth three times before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. The sole occupant of this historic mission was astronaut
John Glenn. Glenn and the Friendship 7 splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean although there were some tense moments as the Friendship 7 reentered Earth’s atmosphere. This mission was an important step for NASA in the race to put man on the moon.
John Glenn was one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, nicknamed the
“Right Stuff”.
Chuck Yeager once referred to the Mercury astronauts as
“Spam in a Can", because of their capsule’s tight quarters and limited manual controls. John Glenn made history again on
October 28, 1998 by serving as the payload specialist onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, thus becoming the oldest human to fly in space at age
77. He
orbited the earth 134 times on this flight. Glenn was a
US Senator while on this flight, completing his fourth consecutive term for the State of Ohio.
John Glenn with President Kennedy after recovery of Mercury Friendship 7 in 1962. The capsule was installed in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in 1963 where it remains on display.
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Farewell to a Truly Beautiful Mind
Dr. Stephen Hawking, brilliant theoretical physicist and cosmologist died March 14, 2018. Many people are remembering the contributions of Hawking's brilliant mind to scientific inquiry. Those inspired by his legacy in cosmology are now picking up where Hawking's genius left off.
One of Hawking's most significant contributions to science is a
theoretical solution to one of the biggest
conundrums of physics explained by
Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and how matter behaves when objects are very large such as how light bends as it crosses the universe. The other side of the conundrum is the
theory of quantum mechanics that explains how matter works on a small subatomic scale. These two theories seemed mutually exclusive until Hawking introduced the
mathematical concept of black hole radiation in 1974. Hawking’s insight offered a way of using the two theories together, that is, the possibility to explore the problem of
reconciling quantum mechanics with gravity in a mathematical way.
Since 1974 theoretical physicists have continued to explore the boundaries and intersections of a seemingly simple yet difficult to answer question: “What happens when you have strong gravity on a small scale?” Hawking provided scientists with the language to better perceive the universe, and for physicists, this language was written in numbers. Although "Hawking radiation" remains to be proven with empirical evidence, his theoretical outline is being tested in creative ways.
As with his friend Carl Sagan (who wrote the introduction to Hawking’s book – A Brief History of Time) Hawking's skill at communicating science to the public is inspiring and will be missed. Although these subjects (black holes, the beginnings of the universe, etc.) are mind-numbingly complex and infinitely profound mathematical topics, his ability to bring it into the mainstream of public discussion results in even youngsters who wonder about “black holes” and “the big bang”.
Amazingly, while his body withered from
ALS, his beautiful mind emerged victorious.
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Reservations Suggested
Due to limited seating of 84 attendees in the Imaginarium, we recommend making reservations for our programs. Call (808) 235-7433 between 8:30am - 3:30pm, Monday - Friday. Reservation phone line is not available on weekends or holidays.
Our admission prices are:
- $8 General admission
- $7 WCC students, military, seniors (65 years or older), with ID
- $6 Children (ages 4-12 years)
- Free for children under 4 years of age (1 per paying adult), and WCC faculty or staff with university ID
- CASH & CHECK ONLY.
Please pick up and pay for reserved tickets at the Imaginarium Box Office at least 15 minutes prior to showtime. Unclaimed tickets may be sold to waiting customers on a first come, first served basis.
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As always, we welcome your feedback or questions, feel free to phone (808) 235-7350 or email to dineene@hawaii.edu. If you would like information regarding our
Adopt-a-Show sponsorship program please
click here.
Dineene O'Connor
Manager, Hōkūlani Imaginarium
Windward Community College
Hale Imiloa 135A
Office (808) 235-7350
