text: Wednesday, October 3, 2012
  Thursday, May 31, 2012
  Thursday, May 17, 2012
  Wednesday, May 2, 2012
  Friday, April 6, 2012
  The countdown of the Top Ten Most Fascinating Artifacts in the Hall of Space Museum continues with the artifact in the sixth position. But, first let us review where we have been so far. At #10 was the Luna sphere from the Soviet Union; #9 were the RD 107 rocket engines, also of Soviet design. Filling the #8 spot were the slides rules previously owned by the German von Braun and the Russian Korolev. At #7 was the SR-71 spy plane. Who knows? Maybe, an artifact from the American space program will finally make the list at #6.
  Friday, March 23, 2012
  Tuesday, March 13, 2012
  Saturday, March 10, 2012
  Among the many positions I have held at the Cosmosphere is the role of Planetarium Director. Back then, I went outside at night and scoped out the positions of the stars and planets, so I could point them out during planetarium shows. Now, that I am Director of Education, I have let this activity all but slip away. It is my loss. If you haven’t taken a look at the night sky lately or ever, go out tonight after sunset and look east. That brilliant red star that doesn’t twinkle is Mars. Then, turn around and look west. The two bright lights close together are Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the brighter of the two. If you look at these planets for a little while, you may be struck with a small sense of how many people have come before you and seen this same thing and felt as you may feel about the wonder of it all. It only takes a few moments to make that connection, but the feeling can last a lifetime.
  Monday, March 5, 2012
  Monday, February 27, 2012
  Friday, February 24, 2012
  Monday, February 20, 2012
  Once upon a time the most put upon man in the world was forced to write a weekly blog.
  Sometimes the best thing you can do is pull some old thing off the shelf or out of a drawer, dust it off and run it by again. Sometimes, it’s the worst thing you can do. Back in 2009 I did a series of short videos called “History in 90 Seconds”. They were somewhat less than a hit, but I thought they were good, so here they are again. Episode One dealt with why the Cosmosphere is in Hutchinson. Meredith is doing that right now in our 50th anniversary year, so I will leave that to her. Please, judge me, but not too harshly.
  Friday, February 10, 2012
  Fifty years ago this year, Patricia “Patty” Brooks Carey started the Hutchinson Planetarium. The only planetarium in the state of Kansas at the time made its debut in the old chicken coop on the State Fairgrounds. Patty had a love for astronomy. This love of the stars is one of the reasons the Hutchinson Planetarium was created. In a single weekend, Patty gathered the finances from her community friends and neighbors to finance the purchase of a star ball. The first show, “Star of Bethlehem” opened December 2, 1962.
  As the years went on, the Hutchinson Planetarium expanded and was relocated to the Cosmosphere’s current site at the Hutchinson Community College. In the 1980s, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Discovery Center maintained the Planetarium and other learning oddities, such as an Egyptian mummy and a real live snake! With Patty Carey leading the way and placing the right people in position, the Cosmosphere began to collect more and more space artifacts. The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center now houses one of the most comprehensive space artifact collections in the world.
  In this 50th anniversary year of the Cosmosphere’s beginning, I hope to share with you all not only the Cosmosphere’s story, but Patty Carey’s story. Even more, though, I hope you all share back with us your stories and remembrances of Patty Carey and experiences at the Cosmosphere over the years.
  By Meredith Miller, Collections Manager
  Once upon a time the most put upon man in the world was forced to write a weekly blog. He pointed out that he was an expert at nothing, that in fact; he despised experts in general and therefore was not at all qualified to write about anything. His arguments fell on deaf ears. So, it came to pass that I, the he referred to above, became The Reluctant Blogger.
  Experts in my opinion, come in five distinct types.
  The Real Expert
  This expert knows their subject, their limitations and their place. They are as rare as hummingbirds in Antarctica.
  This expert knows a lot about one or several topics. More often then not they come to believe themselves experts on all topics, resulting in a stoppage of both listening and learning.
  This expert knows everything about a specific narrow topic, speaking only of their beloved.
  This expert is an expert in name only. They know almost nothing about their topic, but sputter and bluster as if they do.
  This is me. I work in a space museum. I can think of few fields of expertise filled with greater uncertainty than space and history, and I am immersed in both. My museum is called The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center. It is in Hutchinson, KS, and is, in my opinion, the greatest space museum on earth, and one of the world’s great museums, period. Bold statements, but I intend to prove them true.
  The good news is that this is my dilemma and not yours. I will share with you the wonders of the Cosmosphere’s Hall of Space Museum and encourage you to decide if my boasts are true.
  Director of Education