(703) 683-9740
(703) 683-7546
Challenger Center Year by Year
1996
Challenger Center is one of three organizations selected by NASA to be part of an extensive outreach and education effort in support of the Stardust mission—in which a spacecraft gathers samples of interstellar dust spewed from Comet Wild-2.
Four Challenger Learning Centers open:
- Columbia, South Carolina
- Columbus, Georgia
- Atwater, California
- Jacksonville, Florida
1997
Challenger Center celebrates its 10th Anniversary.
The Challenger Learning Center at the Discovery Museum Science Center in Sacramento, California, joins the network.
North American Marsville, the most comprehensive external teleconference focusing on Marsville: The Cosmic Village®, links seven sites in the U.S. with seven in Canada.
Challenger Center is chosen as the primary educational partner for the Embrace Space initiative and the first national Space DaySM on May 22, 1997. The Theory of Wow! A Kid-Size Exploration of the Solar System, an electronic field trip produced for Space Day, reaches upwards of two million students.
EdVentures in Simulation: A Great START for the 21st Century™, a teacher training workshop, is released. The workshop enables teachers to bring the learning power of educational simulation to any subject they choose.
1998
Cosmic EdVentures: Exploring Earth's Neighborhood™, Challenger Center's newest classroom simulation kit, is released.
Challenger Center is once again chosen as the primary educational partner for the Embrace Space initiative and Space DaySM. An exciting electronic field trip, Outside the Envelope: Exploring Beyond Earth's Boundaries, is broadcast on Space Day, May 21. The broadcast reaches more than 4.5 million young people worldwide.
In September, the 31st Challenger Learning Center opens its doors in Birmingham, Alabama. Former President George Bush attends the grand opening ceremony.
Voyage to Mars™ the fourth mission scenario for Challenger Learning Centers, is released.
1999
Challenger Center is selected by Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA to head the Cassini Educator Fellowship Program. Fifteen educators are selected nationally to share with other teachers and students the knowledge they gain from the Cassini project scientists and engineers.
In conjunction with Space Day, Challenger Center produces an award-winning electronic field trip: The Quest in the Question.
Partnering with the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics on its ARIES program, Challenger Center and the Learning Center Network are tasked with disseminating program materials and providing teacher training workshops.
Vista Station™, Challenger Center's first classroom simulation kit for elementary school students, is released.
Challenger Center purchases a building in Alexandria, Virginia; staff members move into its new and permanent headquarters. Speaking at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Dr. June Scobee Rodgers said that when she first visited the building she noticed, "The building's cornerstone read 1986, the year of the Challenger accident. It choked me up a bit. Inside, it was perfect. Later, when we came back out, I noticed that a car had parked in front of ours. On it was a bumper sticker that read: 'I touch the future. I teach—Christa McAuliffe.' And we knew that it was a message."
Five Challenger Learning Centers open:
- Tucson, Arizona
- Hammond, Indiana
- Hazard, Kentucky
- Radcliff, Kentucky
- Suffern, New York
The first Learning Center in Europe, the Challenger Learning Centre in Leicester (United Kingdom), opens at the National Space Science Centre.
2000
Journey through the Universe, a Challenger Center program that brings science resources to under-served communities, selects Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, as its first participant. There are now 10 Journey communities nationwide.
Five Challenger Learning Centers open:
- Kenai, Alaska
- Peoria, Arizona
- Oakland, California
- San Antonio, Texas
- San Benito, Texas
Six million students view Houston, We Have a Solution!, an Electronic Lesson produced by Challenger Center in support of Space Day. The Design Challenges, a national problem-solving competition, is launched as the main educational component for Space Day.
2001
Voyage, a Scale Model of the Solar System, is installed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. This permanent outdoor exhibition is produced in partnership with NASA and the Smithsonian Institution.
A prototype of the EdVenture Lab, a technology-rich classroom designed for primary grade students, is built at Challenger Center headquarters.
The Challenger Learning Center for Science & Technology opens in Woodstock, Illinois.
A series of three 15-minute electronic lessons inspired by the Space Day 2001 Design Challenges. Houston, We Have Another Solution! introduces students to real-life problem solvers who give insight on the challenges of living and working in space. The program wins a Telly Award for excellence.
2002
Two Challenger Learning Centers join the network:
- Paducah, Kentucky
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
The second EdVenture Lab is operational in Decatur Township, Indiana. The classroom space quickly becomes a district-wide resource.
Inventors Wanted, Mission: Explore, and Space Day Star are the three Design Challenges for Space Day 2002. Quest for EdVenture, an electronic lesson in support of the Design Challenges, also receives a Telly Award. This is the third year that Challenger Center has been honored.
2003
Challenger Center is tasked with managing the MESSENGER Educator Fellowship Program—part of the education and public outreach component for the MESSENGER spacecraft mission. Thirty Educator Fellows will be recruited over two years to conduct teacher training workshops; more than 27,000 teachers are expected to be trained over the mission's 11-year program period.
The Voyages Speakers Bureau sets up service. Astrophysicists from Challenger Center are invited to make space science presentations to schools, conferences, and businesses nationwide.
Commemorating the centennial of flight, the theme for this year's Space Day Design Challenges is Celebrating the Future of Flight. Another Quest for EdVenture electronic lesson is produced and broadcast to students nationwide.
Five Challenger Learning Centers join the network:
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Tallahassee, Florida
- Lucas County, Ohio
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Bloomington, Illinois
The opening of the Challenger Learning Center at the Prairie Aviation Museum in Bloomington marks an important milestone for Challenger Center. It becomes the 50th Learning Center in the network.
2004
June Scobee Rodgers, Challenger Center Founding Director, is invited to testify on the topic of "Inspiring Youth and Improving Science/Math Literacy" for the President's Commission on Moon, Mars, and Beyond. Her presentation will help the Commission provide recommendations to the President on implementation of his Renewed Spirit of Discovery plan.
Blazing Galactic Trails is the theme for this year's Space Day Design Challenges. In honor of the national bicentennial commemoration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Space Day ignites the imagination of 21st century space explorers, scientists, and inventors. The electronic lesson brings a fifth Telly Award to Challenger Center.
Challenger Commander, Francis R. "Dick" Scobee is one of five members of the eighth class of NASA astronauts inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Also honored are Frederick Gregory, Norman Thagard, Kathryn Sullivan, and Richard Covey. Andrew Chaikin, the noted space historian, remarks during the ceremony: "These men and women are not just heroes because of what they did. They are heroes because they move all of humanity forward. They are heroes because they represent the best of us, and inspire us to become more than we already are."
Challenger Center welcomes Lani McCool, widow of William McCool (the Pilot of the STS-107 Columbia Space Shuttle), to its Board of Directors. The Columbia family members selected Mrs. McCool to be their representative on the Challenger Center Board.
The families of the Space Shuttle Challenger's crew accept the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. The honors, presented in the name of Congress and on behalf of President George W. Bush, were made during a private ceremony with the families of the seven astronauts in Washington, D.C.
Two Challenger Learning Centers join the network:
- Bangor, Maine
- Indianapolis, Indiana
2005
Design and development of the Next Generation Simulator began for a new Challenger Learning Center in Korea, which will open in 2006.
This year’s Space Day theme is Return to the Moon. A human presence on the Moon will create a base from which future solar system exploration can occur.
The Comet and Moon mission scenarios flown by the Learning Center Network were updated with new content information, more accurate and detailed visuals, and hands-on science activities.
The Micronauts program, developed by the Challenger Learning Center of Chattanooga (TN), is available to the Network. This hands-on program is aimed at students in grades K-4. The one-hour Micronauts in Orbit program focuses on living in space and the two-hour Micronaut Tech program focuses on the use of technology, telescopes, and microscopes.
