WASHINGTON, D.C. -- United States Senator Daniel K. Inouye announced that the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved $2.5 million to continue developing a national prototype space education curriculum by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and the Bishop Museum, and to begin planning and design of the Mauna Kea Astronomy Educational Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, which will also serve as a demonstration site for this project. The Center will include a planetarium, real-time linkages to the observatories, and conferencing and instructional facilities.

"I commend the partnership between Bishop Museum and the University of Hawaii at Hilo on this worthwhile endeavor. The Mauna Kea Astronomy Educational Center will serve as a demonstration site for the Explorers Project, as well as a gateway to Mauna Kea, which is known internationally as the best site for optical, infrared and millimeter/submillimeter astronomy, and its observatories. In addition, the Center will provide an educational link between science, modern astronomy, space education, exploration, and Polynesian/Hawaiian culture and navigational history," said Senator Inouye.

In Fiscal Year 1997, Senator Inouye obtained $2 million for the first phase of the Bishop Museum Planetarium initiative from NASA's Academic Programs account. Of that amount, $1 million was provided to Bishop Museum to create two dynamic multi-media programs and associated educational materials around the theme of exploration. The "Journey by Starlight" program is an interactive simulation of navigating a Hawaiian canoe from Tahiti to Hawaii. The "Eyes on the Universe" program will focus on modern technology and human exploration of the universe from earth and space-based observatories. Using various distribution techniques including, an interactive and evolving World Wide Web Site, video resources, and an interactive CD-ROM, an estimated 800,000 students and 500,000 families across the nation will be able to experience these two programs. These premiere programs will be featured at the Bishop Museum's new planetarium that is scheduled to open in 1999.

Last year, Senator Inouye obtained an additional $2 million to establish a Center for Space Education at Bishop Museum. The work of this second phase expands upon the first phase of the Explorers Project, and uses additional media and techniques to reach wider audiences. The Center will produce educational programs, exhibits, curricula and other materials which will supplement existing educational methods not easily utilized by people in the Pacific Basin due to satellite positioning or economic limitations.

This initiative is included in the Fiscal Year 1999 Veterans Affairs, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations bill which will now go to the full Senate for consideration. It will then face a joint House-Senate Conference and final Senate vote before its transmittal to the White House.