NEW BEDFORD, MA (30 September 2009)— The Ocean Explorium is about to launch a stunning new exhibit, which will take visitors on a celestial journey through the eyes of the world’s greatest space telescope.

NASA’s traveling exhibition, New Views of the Universe, will arrive at the Ocean Explorium early next week, and be open to the public for three months from Saturday, October 10. Showcasing dazzling deep-space discoveries of the world’s largest telescope, the exhibit will immerse visitors in the mystery and magnificence of the Hubble Space Telescope mission.

To celebrate the opening, some of NASA’s acclaimed scientists and engineers will be guest speakers at the Ocean Explorium during October. They will make presentations at a “Cosmic Voice” speaker series on Tuesday nights.

“This is a real coup for the Ocean Explorium, and for the city of New Bedford,” said Ocean Explorium executive director Mark Smith. “We are thrilled to have the caliber of these scientists and engineers coming here to share their knowledge and experience with the people of our community.

“This speaks to the significance of what we, as an educational institution, are trying to achieve, and how far we have come in such a short time. We feel the Hubble Space Telescope exhibit goes hand-in-hand with what we are already doing here at the Ocean Explorium, and feel privileged to offer this opportunity to our members and visitors.”

The Ocean Explorium is a public center for science education in downtown New Bedford—a unique blend of aquarium, museum, science center and school. Its focal exhibit is Science on a Sphere®—a state-of-the-art global display system which shows the Earth and planets in 3-D, like viewing the planets from outer space. It also features a colorful collection of marine animal exhibits from around the world, and a children’s activity center. The Ocean Explorium is open to the public Thursdays through Sundays, on holidays and during school vacations.

An interactive cosmic journey into space
 
It will take several days to install the Hubble traveling exhibit at the Ocean Explorium. The 2,000 square-foot exhibit features a number of interactive displays and a scale model of the Hubble Telescope, which has revolutionized astronomy with its capacity to provide deep and clear views of the Universe, even distant fledgling galaxies as far away as 12 billion light years.

Orbiting 350 miles above the Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope helps answer some of science's key questions. It has provided unprecedented scientific discoveries including a refined estimate of the age of the Universe and definitive evidence of black holes. 

“This exhibit will be an extraordinary educational journey through the Universe,” said Ocean Explorium education coordinator Abbey Spargo. “As an educator I can’t imagine a more exciting way to teach people about space and space exploration. It will be an eye-opening experience for everyone who sees it. And we will be able to combine the exhibit with tailor-made Science on a Sphere® demonstrations. What a rich and inspiring experience for the citizens and students of the SouthCoast.”

For no additional entrance fee, visitors to the Ocean Explorium will see Hubble’s remarkable contribution to space exploration. Through interactive activities, including computer games and videos, they will learn how the space telescope works, and see astonishing images of planets, galaxies, black holes, and other cosmic bodies—real images of our universe.

In addition, the Hubble exhibit at the Ocean Explorium will introduce visitors to Hubble’s successor— the “next generation” James Webb telescope, scheduled to launch in 2014. The James Webb telescope will be a large infrared space observatory, which will find the most distant objects in the Universe and study the formation of solar systems.

Speakers from NASA Goddard at the Ocean Explorium during October will include: Ray Lundquist, Webb Telescope Engineer; Tom Griffin, Hubble Space Telescope Observatory Manager; Amber Straughn, Webb Telescope scientist; and Mark Clampin, Webb Telescope scientist. During the “Cosmic Voice” speaker series a bus will shuttle visitors between the Ocean Explorium and the Astronomical Observatory at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.

For further information about the Ocean Explorium, visit www.oceanexplorium.org or contact Ellen Carpenter on 1-508-994-5400 or ellenbmcarpenter@yahoo.com.au For more information about New Views of the Universe visit http://hstexhibit.stsci.edu/ or contact Lynn Chandler at the Goddard Space Flight Center on 1-301-286-2806 or Lynn.chandler-1@nasa.gov