In a year like no other, our public engagement staff continued to produce new products and opportunities to help a diverse audience engage with astronomical discoveries.
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In March, the institute’s public outreach staff members were busy preparing to celebrate the Hubble Space Telescope’s 30th year in space: Large-scale banners of the anniversary image were printed for events in all 50 states, a “fly through” of the Cosmic Reef was in the works, and a slew of online resources and an online lecture, which unveiled the image for the first time, were prepared to support informal educators and lifelong learners. Although the pandemic introduced quite a few challenges, it didn’t interrupt the completion of this work and only delayed celebrations across the country.
By the time the banners were unveiled at libraries, science centers, museums, and other informal learning centers this summer, the largely online events (replete with extensive resources) provided a moment for attendees to reflect on all we’ve collectively learned about the universe with the help of Hubble, one of humanity’s most prolific observatories.
Throughout the year, our educators and scientists worked to build additional resources for parents and children now learning from home full time. In addition to contributing ideas to NASA’s resource pages, they shared activities on NASA’s Universe of Learning website. This page, which will remain live and receive ongoing updates, allows users to identify resources based on the age of the learner, the type of science they’re most interested in, and the type of activity. ViewSpace, led by STScI and part of NASA’s Universe of Learning, received significant attention through this page for its videos and interactives, and received another high-profile honor online: ViewSpace was nominated for a Webby Award, which honors excellence in seven categories, including websites, videos and games, and garners millions of votes from people across the globe.
Pressing On
Despite the challenges introduced by COVID-19, our staff produced an array of publicly accessible content and online events in 2020. A major initiative was creating materials to support Hubble’s Ultraviolet Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards (ULLYSES) program, which draws on the observatory’s unique capabilities to observe ultraviolet light. As observations are taken throughout the next few years, these data will help researchers learn how stars form, including how material follows magnetic fields onto young stars, and the strength and makeup of their stellar winds.
STScI, which is the lead partner in NASA’s Universe of Learning, also helped secure a five-year extension of the cooperative agreement for the work they do in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This immersive program allows users to explore everything beyond our solar system. In the coming years, our staff and their partners will work to broaden participation, particularly with diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in mind. They will also add data from NASA missions into more projects and partner with subject matter experts to make these activities far more engaging, leading to more aha moments for participants.
Our public outreach staff are also continuing to look to the future. Significant planning is underway to support the upcoming launch, commissioning, and science operations of the James Webb Space Telescope. And efforts have begun to communicate the science of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will launch in the mid-2020s and provide high-resolution views 100 times larger than Hubble’s. One thing is certain: The present and future of communicating astronomical discoveries are extraordinarily exciting!
