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Tech City, Where the Fundamentals of Engineering will be displayed

The fundamentals of engineering will be displayed at the “Tech City” exhibit, featuring 12 interactive activity stations and exhibits that allow visitors to solve real world problems that engineers face each day.  The 3,000 square foot exhibit opens February 4, 2012, at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque.

“Tech City” provides visitors with an opportunity to spend time in many realms of the world of engineering. While designed primarily for 8-13 year-olds, the exhibit gives all visitors a chance to practice the steps in the engineering process: design, build, test, and modify.

“This exhibit is a perfect fit for a technically active city like Albuquerque,” said Jim Walther, Director of the Museum. “We know our guests will appreciate seeing, touching, and hearing about the many wonders of engineering when they visit the Museum.”

The activity stations offer a multitude of engineering situations, including:

• Build a structure that will hold up under the force of an earthquake. Design a building using blocks, set the strength of the quake, and then watch to see if the building remains standing or falls down. 
• Everyone hates being stuck in traffic. At the “Traffic Jam” exhibit, visitors use a computer program to adjust simulated traffic flow by changing the timing of traffic lights at several intersections. 
• Sing a song. Tell a story. Visitors experiment with sound engineering and produce their own recordings using a variety of sound effects. Visitors can record three individual tracks and then play them back simultaneously.

The exhibition was developed by the Sciencenter and Cornell University with funding from the National Science Foundation. Sponsors of the traveling exhibit are Raytheon/Ktech, PNM, and Sandia National Laboratories. “Tech City” will be on display at the Museum through April, 2012. Reservations

“Zoom into Engineering and Science,” an annual family event at the Museum, will take place on Saturday, February 11, 2012; it will provides even further understanding of the world of engineering. Admission to both “Tech City” and “Zoom” is included in the price of admission to the Museum.

Group of 10 or more can reserve a tour for “Zoom” and “Tech City”. These should be booked in advance by calling the Museum at 505-245-2137, extension 103; groups can visit for $5 per person.

“Making Connections” lecture series to debut

The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is sponsoring a series of monthly lectures that focus on wide-ranging topics, from art to science in popular culture, beginning on October 9, 2011. The lecture series is entitled “Making Connections: Lectures on the Lighter Side of Nuclear Science.”

The first lecture, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, is based on the art of Doug Waterfield, an artist and professor from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. His “Doomtown Series” paintings were created in response to the phenomenon of the appearance of the atomic bomb in American culture. The subjects of these works depict an assimilation, sterilization, and domestication of the threat of nuclear war into our culture. Eleven of his paintings are now included in the latest atomic pop culture exhibit entitled “Bikinis and Martinis: Life After the Bomb” at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.

There will be a lecture entitled “End of an Era” on at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov.13, by Ted Spitzmiller. His presentation will chronicle the development of the Shuttle—considered the most complex machine devised by man—and the reasons it failed to achieve its primary goals. It reviews the two tragic failures that crippled the program and concludes with the prospects for the future of human space flight. Spitzmiller attended the Army’s Ordinance Guided Missile School in Huntsville, Alabama and nuclear weapons training at Sandia Base in New Mexico, where he taught in the Atomic Weapons Training Group. He has worked for IBM, Intel, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory from which he retired in 2001. He is an aerospace historian, pilot, and flight instructor. He has logged over 4,500 hours in more than 60 different types of aircraft. His articles have appeared in all major aviation magazines and he has published five books. As a member of the National Space Society, he is a regular contributor to their book reviews.

The next lecture in the series will take place at 2 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2012. Gary Jobson, a sailor and filmmaker, will discuss “Energy on Trial,” which he produced. According to Jobson, “’Energy On Trial’ addresses the energy source groups one by one, presenting the pros and cons of each. Along the way, an impressive array of experts from the scientific, academic, political, and business communities is heard from. The film concludes that while we will require all forms of energy to meet the huge demands of a growing population, and new elements like electric vehicles, the role of new nuclear power must be augmented to shoulder the immense base load we require.” Jobson is a world class sailor, television commentator and author based in Annapolis, Maryland. He is President of US SAILING, the National Governing Body of Sailing. Gary has authored 17 sailing books and is Editor at Large of Sailing World and Cruising World magazines.

The lectures are free with regular admission ($8 for adults) to the Museum.

Nuclear Clean Air Energy Message

Entergy Nuclear has launched the Nuclear Clean Air Energy message. As a group of 15,000 employees strong, this national awareness initiative will better educate students, teachers, women and others about the green benefits of nuclear energy.

“How we shape public perception directly affects our business and the jobs of our employees,” said John Herron, chief nuclear officer and CEO for Entergy Nuclear. “We have a teachable moment following the incident in Japan. The need has never been greater for others to hear our voices – and to bring other voices into the conversation about safe, clean nuclear power.”

Coalition partners and programs that make up the initiative include:

#78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Car
Driver Simona de Silvestro gives visibility to our entire educational effort. Racing in every major market in the U.S., the INDYCAR Series is a great tool for showcasing Simona as a role model inspiring girls and others to careers in STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and math) while spreading the nuclear message to millions nationwide. Purdue University engineering programs has also joined our HVM Racing team in educational activities.

Power Path to Nuclear Energy
With EnergySolutions Foundation, Entergy is giving a comprehensive nuclear science curriculum to middle and high schools in several states at no charge to the schools and teachers.

Women Impacting Public Policy and E3
Entergy is a national sponsor of WIPP’s educational initiative called E3 – Entrepreneurs Energy and Environment – providing online and face-to-face training for women business owners in those three areas plus valuable networking opportunities.

National Nuclear Science Week and the National Museum for Nuclear Science & History
As a national sponsor of this Smithsonian affiliate museum, Entergy co-founded the National Nuclear Science Week. In 2011 more than 11,000 people were touched by educational activities during the week. During the summer, hundreds of Boy Scouts are taught robotics in the Entergy classroom at the museum located in Albuquerque, N.M. 

Peacekeeper MX Missile

The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History will receive a Peacekeeper MX missile on Friday, April 22, 2011.  The 71-foot, 195,000-pound LGM-118A missile will arrive in sections and will be immediately available for viewing, though it will not be fully re-assembled for several months.

The Peacekeeper (MX) was the military’s most accurate and powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from 1986 until it was decommissioned in 2005. (MX stands for Missile-eXperimental.)  Some of the decommissioned missiles have been used to launch satellites. 

“This significant object will be one of the largest items in our already-extensive collection,” said Jim Walther, Director of the Museum. “This is believed to be the last of these artifacts available for public display. The Museum is fortunate to receive and preserve it for future generations.”

As its name suggests, the Peacekeeper was primarily a deterrent.  It was developed for the intended purpose of counterforce strikes (strikes that would destroy an enemy’s weapon stores).  Each missile had a warhead with the ability to deliver up to ten individual warheads, which meant that 50 active Peacekeeper missiles could destroy up to 500 enemy missile silos. A warhead with this capability is known as an MIRV - Multiple Independently targeted Re-entry Vehicle.  The Peacekeeper had a range of 6,000 miles and a speed of 15,000 mph.

A major problem during the life of the Peacekeeper program was “survivability” from an enemy strike.  Hardened silos were built to serve as a fortress for the missile, as well as fortified trains, though budgetary constraints kept these trains from ever being put into use.  Underground silos were the eventual storage site of all Peacekeeper missiles, and also served as the location from which they were launched.

Though a number of issues minimized the Peacekeeper’s efficacy, including housing, funding, and finally an end to the Cold War, the missile was still a crucial part of the United States’ nuclear arsenal.

There is no additional admission to view the missile exhibit; the regular admission is $8 for adults and $7 for youth or seniors.

“Gadget” on Display in Trinity Exhibit

It hung from a 100-foot tower and when it was detonated, the world changed forever. New Mexico was thrust into the international spotlight in 1945 as the location of the Trinity Site, where the world’s first atomic bomb, code named “the Gadget” was tested. A full-sized replica of that first device is now on display at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The large metal sphere that will be on display is an accurate representation of the test device. According to the Museum’s curator, David Hoover, “the Gadget” was: “A subcritical sphere of plutonium was placed in the center of a hollow sphere of high explosive. Numerous detonators located on the surface of the high explosive were fired simultaneously. This produced a powerful inward pressure in the core, squeezing it and increasing its density, resulting in a supercritical condition and a nuclear explosion.”

The object has been placed in the Trinity Exhibit, the Museum’s area that represents the culmination of the Manhattan Project, which developed the weapon in secret for test in 1945. Two other large artifacts are included in the exhibit area, a 1941 Packard limousine and a 1942 Plymouth. The Packard is a “Clipper Six,” and the actual vehicle that ferried Manhattan Project senior scientists and military personnel to the Trinity Site. It was retro-fitted into a 15-passenger limousine. The Plymouth is not the actual auto that carried the plutonium core to the Trinity Site, but is the same model.

“This display of ‘the Gadget’ enhances our exhibit by representing the first bomb,” said Jim Walther, Director of the Museum. “Visitors can imagine how the work of Robert J. Oppenheimer and others came to fruition on that fateful July day.”

Admission to the Museum is $8 for adults; $7 for seniors and youth.