The Projection Planetarium was a training device housed in the Flight Research Laboratory hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. It consisted of a custom designed star projector surrounded by a 40 feet (12 m) diameter sphere constructed from a surplus 53 feet (16 m) radome.[1] The star projector was movable in 3 directions while the capsule mockup and its pilots remained static. The system was used in studies of manual control of spacecraft using "out the window" visual information both in orbit and in a launch abort scenario. The planetarium was constructed in 1965 at a cost of $153,103 for research and development and $177,000 for construction and materials. An additional $145,400 worth of surplus materials were made use of in the project.[2][3]
Described by A.W. Vogeley in a paper presented at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Winter 1966 meeting entitled "Piloted Space-Flight Simulation at Langley Research Center", the system was used to study Apollo launch-abort problems with a "horizon-to-horizon view of Florida as seen from about 100,000 feet." The inflatable sphere enclosing the projector and fixed Gemini capsule mockup also displayed star images. The star projector was sufficient for testing pilot control problems such as rendezvous because the star field was used "primarily as an attitude reference" but was insufficient for testing navigation issues.
Navigational training of Gemini, Apollo, and some Space Shuttle astronauts was conducted at the Morehead Planetarium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[4]
^Brissenden, Roy F. (December 1962). Technical Note D-1498 A Study of Human Pilot's Ability to Detect Angular Motion with Applciation to Control of Space Rendezvous (PDF) (Report). NASA NTRS. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
^Projection Planetarium description, 6-1-66
^Aviation Week & Space Technology. 80. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^Hansen, James R. (2006). First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong (1st Simon & Schuster paperback ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-7432-5751-0.
and 25 Related for: Projection Planetarium information
in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is the large dome-shaped projection screen onto which scenes of stars, planets, and other...
The ProjectionPlanetarium was a training device housed in the Flight Research Laboratory hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia...
Emerald planetariums (Israel) and Ohira Tech (Japan). A good example of a "typical" planetarium projector of the 1960s was the Universal Projection Planetarium...
Nehru Planetariums are the five planetariums in India, named after India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. These are located in Mumbai, New Delhi...
Digistar is the first computer graphics-based planetariumprojection and content system. It was designed by Evans & Sutherland and released in 1983. The...
Kusumbai Motichand Planetarium, the first projectionplanetarium in Asia, became operational at the New English School in Pune on 18 September 1954. It...
attract many visitors.[better source needed] The planetarium uses traditional opto-mechanical projection of celluloid film. In contrast to more modern digital...
planetarium in the country with hybrid modern technology innovations coupled with 3D technology of 8K digital and opto-mechanical (hybrid) projection...
This is a timeline of the history of planetariums. Ley, Willy (February 1965). "Forerunners of the Planetarium". For Your Information. Galaxy Science...
Planetarium has a unique hybrid planetariumprojection system, the first one of its kind in the entire northeast region. It is the second planetarium...
1970. It is also home to the country's oldest operating projectionplanetarium, Seymour Planetarium. The Springfield Science Museum was founded in December...
designs an optical projection device that effectively creates the illusion of a night sky. With this innovation, the modern planetarium is born. 1928 – Max...
into a single, egg-shaped projection unit. The Mark I was created in 1923–1924 and was the world's first modern planetarium projector. The Mark II was...
William M. Staerkel Planetarium is a planetarium at Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois. It is the second largest planetarium in the state, the largest...
planetarium show cost extra. The planetarium projector was the focal piece of equipment at the planetarium. It was a Universal ProjectionPlanetarium...
Prague Planetarium (Czech: Planetárium Praha) is a planetarium located in Bubeneč, Prague, Czech Republic, next to the Stromovka park and Výstaviště Praha...
suggestion by the German astronomer Max Wolf, started work on the first projectionplanetarium in 1912. This work was stopped by military needs during World War...
also the first educational institute in the world to have a laser-projectionplanetarium; it is part of the Dorothy Westerman Hermann Natural Science Center...
-84.476 Abrams Planetarium is the planetarium on the campus of Michigan State University, Michigan, United States. The Abrams Planetarium opened in 1963...
the stars, typically centered on Earth. They are common fixtures at planetariums, where they illustrate the local deep space out to perhaps 50 light years...
test flight, and is home to a planetarium with a 70-foot (21 m)-diameter projection dome. The Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium is a 500-seat celestial theater...
perspective view provided by true hemispheric projection, a problem shared with traditional planetarium projectors. However, this disadvantage fades as...
Coot-tha, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Planetarium was officially opened on 24 May 1978. The Planetarium is named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, governor...
world. The unusual request for an "open" planetarium theater called of the extremely bright stellar projections, a challenge outstandingly mastered by ZEISS...
planetarium seats about 240 people, with a dome that is 68 feet (21 m) in diameter and 44 feet (13 m) tall. It currently has two different projection...