starpath.org

Starpath, affirming that NASA and the planetarium community would be well served if both parties applied their respective talents and resources to common goals, proposes to guide NASA and the planetarium community toward prioritizing annual highlights.

In 2005, the Great Lakes Planetarium Association (GLPA) teamed up with NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) to conduct a two-day focus group entitled Planetariums as Conduits to NASA's Target Audiences. Supported by a NASA Explorer Institutes (NEI) grant, the focus group generated seven strategies on how NASA and small- to mid-sized planetariums can help each other achieve their respective goals to increase understanding of and interest in earth science, space science, and technology.  Educators from regional planetarium associations across the nation and from NASA regional centers representing all sciences and technologies derived a top priority: 

"Jointly draft a roadmap to develop annual themed programs based on
 NASA missions, astronomical & space events, or anniversaries."

The Starpath organizational committee (below) will collectively draft a letter to planetarians and to NASA educators that will introduce the notion of the roadmap and will seek their suggestions for events to be included on it.  While the committee may ask each individual or institution what role they may have in promoting the events they tout, any such suggestions do not commit them or their resources in any way.  The information will simply be used in weighing the appeal of the suggested events.  

The DePaul Space Science Center for Education and Outreach will mail out the letter to targeted NASA parties and to planetarians from all seven U.S. regional planetarium associations.  Additional announcements will follow in Dome-L and through NASA and the planetarium regional associations' respective newsletters.  The Starpath committee will compile the results from the inquiries and derive guidelines for ranking  noteworthy events.   Though the committee will likely trim the suggested events down to a manageable roadmap (hereafter called the Starpath), the Starpath website will later list most of the ideas in case anyone would benefit from hearing about an event pertinent to their facility.  

 The committee will announce the non-binding Starpath results through their respective outlets.