On Tuesday, April 13, 2010, Senator Garn will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his historic space flight aboard the space shuttle Discovery. Jake’s presentation will begin in Clark Planetarium ATK IMAX Theatre at 7 p.m. and will be followed immediately afterward by Hubble 3D.

“Jake Garn is a tireless and tremendously effective advocate for space science education. Jake has been an invaluable member of our Board of Directors since we opened seven years ago, and his perspective on the U.S. space program and its role in our society are both thought-provoking and definitely worth paying attention to,” says Seth Jarvis, Clark Planetarium’s director.

A Utah resident, Garn served in the U.S. Navy as a pilot and is a retired Brigadier General in the Utah Air National Guard. He has logged over 12,000 hours of flight time in a wide variety of jet aircraft.  In November of 1984, Senator Garn was invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to fly as a payload specialist on flight 51-D of the space shuttle Discovery.  During the seven-day mission he performed a variety of medical tests for NASA.  Discovery Flight 51-D landed at Cape Canaveral on April 19, 1985 after orbiting the earth 109 times.  In December of 1992, Senator Garn was the recipient of the National Aeronautics Association prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy.

Hubble 3D is the newest IMAX documentary and explores both the significance of the Hubble Space Telescope to astronomer’s understanding of the universe and the extraordinary work performed by shuttle astronauts to maintain and improve the orbiting telescope, regarded by most scientists as the most productive research instrument in the history of science. Narrated by three-time Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, the film is a production of IMAX and Warner Bros. Pictures and was created in cooperation with NASA.

The event will take place from 7 – 9 p.m. and tickets are available at the window for $8 each or $9 on the planetarium’s website.

Clark Planetarium’s mission is to create and present stimulating educational programs that effectively share astronomy and space exploration information with Salt Lake County residents, Utah Students, educators and families, and visitors from around the country and the world.

This new show will be a rip-roaring space adventure – the planetarium’s first original astronomy education production incorporating good guys vs. bad guys, blazing lasers and a desperate pursuit among the stars in a do-or-die race to save the galaxy.

We’ve stopped short of sporting eye patches and parrots on our shoulders as we open this show, but we want you to know that high adventure awaits in our Hansen Dome Theatre.

Across the hall in the ATK IMAX Theatre, we’ll be featuring a different kind of space adventure with the opening of Hubble 3D.  Last May NASA astronauts made a visit to the Hubble Space Telescope to give it a major, and final, series of repairs and upgrades.  The Hubble Space Telescope has been accurately described as the single most productive scientific instrument in history.  The list of profound astronomical discoveries made using Hubble is too long to mention in this newsletter.  Trust me, the discoveries made using Hubble are hugely significant to astronomy.  The modifications made to the telescope last year have given this magnificent instrument an additional decade of useful life while at the same time making it roughly ten times more powerful than the Hubble Telescope was when it was first launched twenty years ago.  A 3D IMAX camera was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis and captured astonishing high-resolution 3D footage of the work performed on the telescope as astronauts ingeniously employed technology and muscle-power to give Hubble a fresh lease on life.  Do NOT miss this movie!

- Seth