McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center Receives Jane’s Trust and NASA Space Grants for Celebration of Apollo 11 50th Anniversary

Concord, NH – The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Centerhas been awarded a $77,000 NASA grant through the New Hampshire Space Grant Consortium for a wide variety of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities over the coming year. “The part of the grant that most excites us,” Discovery Center Executive Director Jeanne Gerulskis states, “is the $30,000 specifically aimed at creating special exhibits and events to celebrate the 50^thanniversary of the first moon landing.”

 

The Discovery Center has also been awarded a $100,000 grant from Jane’s Trust, to support development of in-house capacity to create exhibits, with a focus on the Apollo 11 celebration. “While we have been delighted by the exhibitions we have been able to bring to New Hampshire from across North America in our first six years as an independent nonprofit air and space museum, in our seventh year we have committed to creating exhibits and programs that bear in mind the interests, needs and desires of our unique New Hampshire and New England audiences,” Gerulskis notes. “After undergoing a marketing study in 2018 by Louis Karno & Company, we have a stronger understanding of our community. We are thankful that the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation supported our 2018 marketing study, and are truly honored and humbled by Jane’s Trust, NASA and the NH Space Grant Consortium’s support in 2019 for our work with the community on this commemoration.”

The Discovery Center team has been joined by scientists, volunteers, aerospace companies, community members and organizations including NH PBS on a lunar program series and special lunar exhibits for children and families.  Saturday, July 20 will be the 50^thanniversary of the day human beings first set foot on the moon. On July 20, the Discovery Center will open its new exhibition, To the Moon, feature NH PBS’s production on New Hampshire’s role in lunar science and exploration, Back to the Moon, and offer special guest talks, programs and lunar-focused activities for the public from 10:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Those with questions they would like answered about the moon, including past, present and future lunar exploration, are encouraged to engage with the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center through the contact page on its website.

 

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center features 21st century interactive exhibits on aviation, astronomy, Earth and space science, an all-digital, full-dome planetarium and a variety of science, technology, and engineering and mathematics programs. The engaging, robust educational programs are geared towards families, teens, seniors, students, community groups and lifelong learners. For more information, visit www.starhop.com.