By Carmelo Turdo |
In the afternoon, special guest speaker Gregg Maryniak, Chairman of the Energy and Environmental Systems Department at Singularity University and Chairman of the X-Prize Foundation, gave his presentation entitled "Can the Moon Save the Earth?" Maryniak recalled that the original reason for manned exploration of the moon was political in nature, part of the Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Absent the immediate political rivalry concerning space travel, Maryniak contends that the moon can be part of the solution to the energy and environmental challenges that will become critical in the decades to come. He proposes a strategy of harnessing raw materials from the moon and constructing the means of collecting solar energy from space rather than building the infrastructure on earth. Through a series of animations, it was demonstrated that operating from the moon is much more efficient than overcoming the earth's gravity every time man uses the space between the earth and the moon. More importantly, Maryniak was skillful in making this "rocket science" understandable to audience members of all ages.
Throughout the day, visitors enjoyed the exhibits and activities regularly available at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, including full-scale Mercury and Gemini spacecraft, authentic Mercury astronaut space suits, flight simulators, the OmniMax theater, and other science galleries throughout the St. Louis Science Center. Here are some views of these aviation and space exhibits.
Gregg Maryniak (left), Planetarium Director John Lakey |
Gemini (left) and Mercury Spacecraft |
Mercury Space Suits Worn by Cooper and Grissom |
McDonnell Aircraft Engineer Alex Strovinsky's Effects on Display |
Pulseworks Flight Simulator |
One of Two Additional Pulseworks Flight Simulators |
Flight Simulators in the Take the Controls Simulator Room |
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