GRAND ISLAND -- NASA has estimated that a mission to Mars could cost half a trillion dollars, but Grand Island Senior High may be able to do it for just under a million.
Astronomy teacher Emily Petermann explained to the Grand Island school board Thursday night just how user friendly the new system going into Arrasmith Planetarium will be.
"I will be able to hand the students the controls and say, 'Take me to Mars,'" she said.
The board approved spending $561,348 for what Chief Financial Officer Virgil Harden called "the pieces and parts" of "a little project that's been 60 years in the making."
"Our planetarium is 60 years old," Harden said. It was made possible by a donation from the W.J. Arrasmith family in 1965.
The planetarium's current star ball projector has its limits, Petermann said.
"We are limited to showing only the night sky from Earth's perspective. That's all the current system can do," she said. "A new upgraded system would massively expand our capabilities."
She envisions taking her classes on a flight through the Orion Nebula, 1,350 light-years from Earth.
"The amount of engagement in the classroom will increase," Petermann said.
She will also be able to create different shows to match the curriculum of elementary schools or the interests of Scouts and others in the community.
"I'll be able to tailor shows specifically for those groups," Petermann said.
The new system will also be much easier to maintain than the current one. "There's only one company still servicing the current machine," she said. "The projector we have now, they don't manufacture parts."
The purchase from Digitalis Education Solutions of Bremerton, Washington, includes:
* Two Barco F80-4k9 projectors, $262,800
* Dome, $205,544
* Lighting, $11,724
* Professional-grade audio package, $55,000
"Lighting is very important in a planetarium because, of course, you want to have it controlled as far as when you have the light on and not on," Harden said.
"If you've ever experienced a planetarium show," he added, "you know how important the audio is to spark the imagination of the, in our case, kids."
Along with a contingency of $26,280, Thursday night's purchase came to $561,348, but that's not the total price of the project.
"Totaling replacing and updating that entire space" will require renovating the hallway leading to the planetarium and the interior with new lights, carpet, paint and seating.
"So, the total project's roughly $1 million," Harden said.
Board member Josh Sikes wanted to know how many students the planetarium serves. Petermann said 136 students use the space for astronomy classes every day.
"That's a lot of money for 136 students," Sikes said.
"Every freshman student in the building visits the planetarium," she added. "That's 600 plus."
In addition, elementary school students and the community benefit from planetarium shows.