Blast From The Past


Frozen In Time

As you may know, this year marks the 30th Anniversary of the 5050 Oakland Building (when the Saint Louis Science Center built a bridge across the highway to expand its footprint). Before then, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium served as the sole location for science and technology learning since 1963. It wasn’t until July 20, 1985 that we coined our hands-on museum the Saint Louis Science Center. As our attendance increased, a bigger space was needed and plans were created for the Science Center’s new building at 5050 Oakland Ave.
1986 Time Capsule Copper plated steel box, sealed shut Saint Louis Science Center’s Archives

1986 Time Capsule

Copper plated steel box, sealed shut
Saint Louis Science Center’s Archives

 

To preserve and capture the official opening of the Science Center in 1985, staff decided to create a time capsule that coincided with the passing of Halley’s Comet in March 1986.

The idea was to seal the capsule when Halley’s Comet appeared, and then reopen it in July 2061 when the comet made it back to Earth after its 76-year journey around the solar system. While we don’t know what the time capsule contains, we do know that children were invited to write letters to their grandchildren who may see Halley’s Comet during its next visit. Those letters and the other materials were placed inside the capsule on April 13, 1986.

The Day We Opened To The Public.

The grand opening of the new Saint Louis Science Center on November 2, 1991 was an exciting day for all.

Even with near-zero wind chills, hundreds of well-wishers, community supporters, donors and the Science Center’s Max the Robot witnessed the official ribbon-cutting. Brief remarks to the assembled guests outside the building were followed by applause as the ribbon was cut and the public entered the new Science Center for the first time, becoming the 7th largest science center in the U.S. and the 13th largest in the world at the time.

On the grand opening day, thousands of St. Louisans and out-of-town guests showed up to experience new exhibits, shows and activities. The most popular areas were our ever iconic roaring T.rex and the bridge crossing Interstate 64 and its radar guns.

The OMNIMAX® Theater, Alien Research Project and Discovery Room all sold out quickly. Early hands-on testing of the exhibits by special guests triggered some alterations to the Science Center’s galleries before the public experienced them.

Prior to opening to the public, the exhibits department installed more than 500 new exhibits during a seven-month period in 1991. To create these exhibits, 40,000 square feet of exhibits were shipped in and installed with about half coming from other parts of the country. The galleries incorporated what were coined the Four Ps: primary experience (learning by doing); primary object (seeing the real thing); primary source (hard-core science information); and a positive learning environment.

A LOOK BACK

See the 5050 Oakland Building being built from the ground up.


5 Science Discoveries from 1991

1991 was a moment of radical scientific and technological change leading to the advancement of science that is evident today. Below are some of the major milestones and discoveries that shaped the year we expanded the Saint Louis Science Center.

1

[AUGUST 1991]
THE FIRST WEBSITE


Image credit: CERN

The first website was developed at CERN labs in Switzerland by Tim Berners-Lee. The page was dedicated to information about the newly developed World Wide Web. Thirty years later, there are now over 1.84 billion websites on the web. To say that the internet has come a long way would be an understatement.


Image credit: HP Computer Museum

Though we don’t even stop to think about it today, the ability to scan color images into a computer did not exist until 1991. The HP ScanJet IIC was introduced so it could scan documents up to 8.5 inches by 14 inches, allowing consumers the opportunity to preserve color images and documents.

3

[OCTOBER 1991]
NOTEBOOK COMPUTER (MACINTOSH POWERBOOK)


Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Though “portable” computers had existed since the 1980s, Apple truly revolutionized portability with its PowerBook computer. The PowerBook included new features such as a built-in trackball and a keyboard that left room for palm rests. It ushered in the era of laptop computing for the everyday workplace and consumer.

4

[OCTOBER 29, 1991]
FIRST VISIT TO AN ASTEROID BY A SPACECRAFT


Image credit: NASA

The Galileo spacecraft was the first to closely observe an asteroid on its way to Jupiter (Galileo reached Jupiter in 1995). Taking images of the asteroid, named Gaspra, provided us with a better understanding of the composition of asteroids.

5

[EXACT DATE UNKNOWN, 1991]
CARBON NANOTUBES


Image credit: American Chemical Society

Japanese physicist Sumio Iijima first discovered and described carbon nanotubes, setting off a period of intense research into nanotechnology. Carbon nanotubes, though only 100 nanometers (0.0001 mm) across, are extremely strong and flexible structures that can conduct electricity and heat. Today, they are used in everything from clothing and sports equipment (ultralight but durable tennis racquets and bicycle components) to medicine (as a scaffolding for bone growth in damaged limbs) and computer technology (extremely small computer chip transistors).