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My
First Nine Months My first nine months at the Glasgow Science Centre (GSC) have absolutely flown by! Here is a brief update of the significant happenings to date (and a glimpse of the exciting life I now lead). When I arrived on the 3rd December 2001, the installation of the new planetarium equipment had just begun – and seeing as there were only two months to the big launch – you can imagine that I needed to hit the ground running. For example, the Zeiss technicians were absolutely flabbergasted that I had taken up my post as planetarium manager on the same day they arrived to install their equipment. In fact, I spent the first part of my first morning searching for a few lost items: five crates containing the £1 million Zeiss Starmaster star projector! We eventually tracked it down to an off-site warehouse and all was well. Well, so I naively thought – little did I know of what was to come. For a start the Zeiss equipment, which in total weighs almost a ton, did not fit through the planetarium door - additionally, all 120 seats had already been installed and the central pit had been completed (with a tiny door as the only access). So the Zeiss equipment had to be dismantled, rows of seats (which are all joined) had to be removed, and part of the pit wall had to be broken down. Other headaches included a surprise structural beam in the middle of the cove light path; non-arrival of slide projectors; a broken video projector bracket (after a workman stood on it); overly-bright fire exit lights; no water for the laser; software conflicts; hardware conflicts; software conflicts with hardware; electricians and other contractors all over the place; dust and debris everywhere (a final clean-up was never done) - the list just goes on and on - and in the middle of all of this I had to learn how to use cutting-edge and highly sophisticated equipment. I was under immense pressure, not only trying to juggle the installation of the equipment (which included acting as mediator between easy-going American technicians [Spitz], highly-strung German technicians [Zeiss] and a perfectionist local Astronomer Royal [Prof. John Brown]); but I also had to come to grips with my other duties as a GSC Staff Scientist ie. supervising the day to day running of the Science Centre (eg. ensuring the three huge exhibit floors are operated properly by science communicators [‘explainers’]; co-ordinating staff lunch breaks; answering public queries; calling for lifts; administering First Aid; etc, etc. And if you add to this the challenge of acclimatising to a new country, new surroundings, new colleagues and new personal domestic arrangements - you will understand why I lost 5kgs in the first two months (I’m not complaining, as I was wondering how I was going to shed the excess weight anyway). The ScottishPower Space Theatre HAD to launch on the 30th January 2002. Period. If the launch was delayed one more time there was a real danger that ScottishPower would withdraw the £500 000 sponsorship. I got very little sleep in January. When the launch day finally came, it was the classic climax, just like in the movies: crucial work was finished in the eleventh hour, absolute essentials fell into place at the last minute - and right on cue, a final nail-biting panic situation arouse moments before the main event. Dignitaries at the launch included Dr Heather Couper; Prof. John Brown; both the ScottishPower and GSC CEOs; Spitz and Zeiss bosses; guests from the National Space Centre; local amateur astronomy societies, educators and numerous others. Seeing as I was still unfamiliar with the brand new equipment (which had some technical bugs in it) the shows on the evening were not perfect (I had to steer home the ‘automated’ show manually!) - but fortunately nobody noticed. Well, nobody that mattered anyway. Literally the next day, before I had even begun training any staff, the doors were flung open to seething masses of visitors. After so much media hype and so many delays, the anticipation was high - and sour local journalists were itching to find fault with the latest addition to the Glasgow Science Centre. Yet I am happy to report that from the start the ScottishPower Space Theatre has not failed to impress. As at the time of this writing (Aug 2002) we have been open 7 months and in that time 70 000 visitors have enjoyed over 1000 shows, with 60% of those shows being live star presentations. In May and June we were swamped by huge school numbers, and this even before we had officially begun offering the planetarium experience as part of the school programme! Other projects have included a successful public telescope outing in May; inclusion in the current University of Glasgow Adult Learning programme; a growing electronic mailing list and an increasing number of evening corporate events. It needs to be said that we have had our fair share of technical problems and disappointments since opening - but we have always had a show ready for our visitors. We’ve been reminded more than once by the respective technicians involved that you can’t expect to enjoy cutting-edge technology without bleeding a little. And the pros certainly far outweigh the cons. For one our Zeiss starfield is absolutely magnificent, and by far the best in Britain at the moment. I am also blessed with a core team of four young, enthusiastic presenters who are very much in love with astronomy and thoroughly enjoy speaking before an audience. Our theatre may boast immersive panoramic video, a high-powered laser and other fancy equipment (see technical summary below), but what we’ve discovered is that visitors enjoy our live star shows far more than anything else. In fact, the Zeiss starfield is so spellbinding that I have begun running meditation/relaxation sessions for our 120-strong Science Centre staff. The extremely high quality of our night sky has also seen us featured on BBC’s Tomorrow’s World, and prompted well-known planetarium educators such as Dr Gill Russell (Aberdeen College) and Dr Francisco Diego (University College London) to offer to collaborate with us to produce new (traditional) planetarium shows, and our first production The Cosmic Message is nearing completion. Recently the Glasgow Science Centre has sadly (like most other new and expensive visitor attractions) suffered a few financial setbacks. This has resulted in staff redundancies, cut-backs and an overall tightening up on spending. For the planetarium this means no new high-tech panoramic video shows for a while, and also reduced opening hours. Nonetheless I’m convinced that this is a passing phase and it won’t be long before the GSC firmly establishes itself as one of the world’s foremost Science Centres, with the ScottishPower Space Theatre continuing to stand tall amongst planetariums. For me, launching what is arguably Britain’s top planetarium (from a standing start in just two months) has been a wonderful experience and immense challenge. In the process I have not only learned much, but have also proved many things to myself - and dare say I’m extremely proud with what I have accomplished. I find it hard to believe that only three years ago I was still a small-time museum educator in South Africa. So I’d like to end off by inviting everyone who reads this article to visit the Glasgow Science Centre if they can, and be sure to catch a fantastic show in ‘my’ planetarium - a truly star-studded attraction!
Mario Di Maggio
ScottishPower
Space Theatre
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