Adler Planetarium's 75th Anniversary

ADLER PLANETARIUM'S 75TH ANNIVERSARY

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on Thursday, May 12, 2005, the Adler Planetarium, the first planetarium in America and in the Western Hemisphere, will mark its 75th anniversary.

Max Adler recognized a need to exhibit artifacts from the history of astronomy to the public, and so he founded the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in 1930. Originally, it housed a collection of about 500 astronomical, navigational, and mathematical instruments that would become the foundation for Alder's History of Astronomy Collection. Today, this collection has grown to almost 2000 astronomical artifacts dating from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Included in this collection is the world's oldest known window sundial from 1529; a telescope made by William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered Uranus; and a collection of rare books comprising more than 2000 volumes, some of which were printed before the 1500s.

Over the past 75 years, the Adler's history has been marked by several milestones. In 1933, light from the star Arcturus was successfully converted into electrical signals that turned on the lights for the opening ceremonies of the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition. In 1964, the Adler Planetarium partnered with the National Science Foundation and began offering the Astro-Science Workshop, a program designed to challenge Chicago area high school students who demonstrate an exceptional aptitude for science.

In 1999, the Adler Planetarium underwent renovations that produced the Sky Pavilion, a 60,000 square-foot glass-enclosed addition that includes five new exhibit galleries and a café overlooking the lakefront and the Chicago skyline. The highlight of this renovation is the StarRider Theater, which, through the use of state-of-the-art computer projection technologies and a
sophisticated audience participation system, creates a 3-D virtual reality experience for all those who visit.

Earlier this year, the Adler Planetarium was selected by NASA as the education partner for the Interstellar Boundary Explorer mission to be launched in 2008. This mission will examine the characteristics of the region of space between the solar system and deep space where the solar wind protects Earth and the rest of the solar system from cosmic radiation.

I know that my colleagues join me in congratulating the Adler Planetarium on this important day. I hope all who are involved with the Planetarium will take pride in their important work as they celebrate this anniversary, and I wish them continued success in the years to come.

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