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Kay Simpson celebrates the opening of the upgraded planetarium alongside (from left) state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, state Sen. Jake Oliveira, and Darryl Williams from the office of state Rep. Bud Williams.
museum supporters got a tour.
“Our new projector creates an incredibly immersive expe-
rience,” said Jenny Powers, director of the Science Museum. “We hope that even more in-depth learning will happen when our visitors feel that they are traveling through part of our universe.”
The planetarium’s venerable Korkosz star ball — in con- tinuous operation since 1937 — is not being replaced; in fact, it works in tandem with the Zeiss projector to create a more detailed, realistic virtual journey through the cosmos.
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Meanwhile, just down the hall from the planetarium, a newly upgraded, interactive International
Space Station exhibit will provide visitors
with a better understanding of what it
takes (and what it’s like) to fly among the stars, living and working in outer space for months on end. That improved exhibit also opened on April 29.
Taken together, these improvements — and others throughout the Science Muse- um — represent a $750,000 investment made possible through private donations as well as support from the Massachu- setts Office of Travel and Tourism and a partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under a federal earmark sponsored by U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
Kay Simpson, president and CEO of the Springfield Museums, said these proj- ects are major steps toward the goal of making the museums the premier STEM learning center of the region.
“In addition to the educational value of these improvements for schools
and workforce development, the dynamic additions to the Science Museum will help drive tourism and generate critical economic development for the region.”
“Today is historic,” she told the gath-
ered guests the day before the new exhib-
its opened. “The story starts back in 1934 to 1937, when the Korkosz brothers of Chicopee made a star-ball projector by hand for the Seymour Planetarium. And they did this because it was the Depression and the museum could not afford a state-of-the-art Zeiss projection system. That being said, this star-ball projector was a marvel of innovation and invention. And it entertained such celebrities as movie star Clark Gable, who actually saw a live show in the planetarium in 1939.”
Fast-forward to 2022, and the museum was still using what had become the oldest operating star ball, not just in the coun- try, but in the world, she added.
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