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The Coast Star
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By
Louis C. Hochman
The InfoAge Science andHistory Learning Center, based at the former U .S. Army Base Camp Evans, is known for its ambitiou s educational programs . And now the center's staff really has its sights set sky-high. Representatives of InfoAge have been at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida since Sunday, working to develop educational programs about space . "We're getting a lot of materials, DVDs, books, posters, all sorts of things we can use at InfoAge," said the center's director, Fred Carl . NASA supplied InfoAge with a grant to send Mr. Carl and two peers from the center to Florida , and is covering the group's lodging and related expenses. Joining Mr. Carl in the Sunshine state are InfoAge member Frank O'Brian and Fort Monmouth-InfoAge liaison Dr. Connie Zimmerman. Mr. Carl said so far, the three have learned about NASA's history, and about the "Return to Flight" program intended to make space shuttles safe to fly again . "Next, we'll learn about NASA's future," he said. But the overviews only provide a backdrop and context to the InfoAge team's main purpose — to research and draft an educational program proposal in the hopes of securing more NASA funding . Over the course of this week, the InfoAge team has been meetin g with representatives of several other science centers throughout the country, Mr. Carl said. Participants have been trading ideas as they pre- pare their own proposals . Mr. Carl said InfoAge hopes to expand on Camp Evans' long history with NASA, by finding a new use for a facility once used to receive NASA weather satellite transmissions. In April 1960, the TIROS I and II satellites sent photos of cloud formations from space to Camp Evans, a hallmark in the development of hurricane trackin g technology, according to Mr. Carl . The satellites sent 22,000 images to a 60-foot dish still on the Evans site. Mr. Carl said that building still |
stands, but
is in need of repair before it can host any educational programs. "It's in good structural shape, but it needs new heat and air conditioning and a general repainting," Mr. Carl said. "But it's generally in good shape. It looks just like it did when it was used for TIROS ." The InfoAge director said the center would reach out to the public for help restoring the facility, and hopes to have it open for education - al programs by next autumn . "NASA offers many educational opportunities if you have the place to host them,' Mr. Carl said . "There are many programs that have passed us by because we're not set up for them yet ." For instance, he said, NAS A offers a distance-learning program that puts students or other participants in touch with astronauts and engineers . "They could have two-way discussions on space technology right at the center," Mr. Carl said . Mr. Carl also spoke of leasing for three-months an exhibit called "Eyes n Earth" that details the work of satellites in orbit . "The good news is there are more programs available than we could ever hope to fit in the building," he said. InfoAge's resources have been slowly growing while Wal l Township negotiates with the U.S . Army to take possession of Camp Evans . Already, the township has received large portions of the land , mostly, for open-space purposes , while a small section has been dedicated to Brookdale Community College . Talks continue on remaining parcels at the site . As part of those negotiations, th e U.S . Army has agreed to remediat e several areas contaminated by the chemicals and materials used during scientific research and military operations there. The township and Army are continuing talks over how to address some deteriorating buildings, including those used by InfoAge . "It's been difficult with all the delays, and with some of the facilities not being turned over yet . What's kept us going are all the pro - |
grams that
are out there . You just need a place that they can land," Mr. Carl said. The educational initiative would only be the latest NASA-related development at Camp Evans, the home of several communication s and radar technology development s over the course of the 20th Century . In the 1950s, NASA established a station at Camp Evans' Project Diana radar site, to serve as a central calibration center for satellite tracking systems around the world , according to InfoAge . The technology there helped the United States to track its own space launches, as well as those by the Soviet Union. In 2001 and 2002, the InfoAge center serves as the Northeast Regional Center for Planetary Society's Red Rover Goes to Mars project — which saw students compete to participate in the mission that sent a spacecraft to the red planet, Mr. Carl said . Eventually, winners produced DVDs and other items that were sent across the solar system with the Red Rover. As representatives a regional center, InfoAge officials helped students obtain and complete applications, then rated local submissions . InfoAge is also home to an Apollo Space Program artifact — a command module and lunar module flight computer, Mr. Carl said. Mr. Carl added that while mos t computers in the early age of space exploration took up entire rooms, the flight computer is roughly the size of a modern PC . Mr. O'Brian has authored articles on the computer, and spoke i n September at a NASA Office of Logic conference in Washington , D.C . on the subject. "He introduced the design team that actually built the thing . He said it was like going to the Vatican and introducing the history of Catholicism," Mr. Carl said. Mr. Carl said he was looking forward to continuing the partnership between Camp Evans and NASA . "Now we'll see what we can do from here," he said . |
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