November 9, 2007 was an exciting day at the Walker County School District's Science and Technology Center as NASA scientist Dr. Rob Suggs made the call to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to roll back the roof and raise the NASA lunar observatory telescope for official use in the Constellation Project .

Students from both LaFayette High and Ridgeland High joined a group of staff members, community leaders and media representatives at the Science and Technology Center for a presentation from Dr. Rob Suggs and Dr. Bill Cooke, who initiated and facilitated the construction of the observatory and will monitor data to assist NASA with safely returning astronauts to the moon.  Dr. Cooke and Dr. Suggs are both Walker County School District graduates and former volunteers at the Science and Technology Center.

The 14-inch diameter, remotely controlled telescope at the Science and Technology Center will gather data on the frequency and degree of debris impact on the moon in order to plan a safe path for astronauts to return to the moon by 2020.  Dr. Cooke, a Rossville High School graduate, said he hopes having the facility in the county and available for use by schools will encourage students to pursue careers in science, perhaps even joining he and Dr. Suggs in working on the Constellation Project.

"We are so proud to be partnering with NASA on this project," said Superintendent Melissa Mathis.  "The telescope will be an important addition to the planetarium planned for the Science and Technology Center."

When the space agency is not using the telescope, teachers and students may use it for their own exploration, said Dr. Cooke.  "They can study sandstorms on Mars…look at eclipsing binary stars…all sorts of things," he said.  Students are limited "only by their imagination" when either using the telescope while visiting the Science and Technology Center or viewing live video from the telescope via the high-speed internet connection at any time.

NASA provided the equipment including the  building, telescope, special scientific cameras, etc., said Coordinator of Science and Technology Dr. Wayne Robinson who provided local coordination for the project. Walker County Schools personnel established the concrete pad, connectivity to the high-speed Internet line, and security system cabling, he said.  Several volunteers also assisted with the project, completing tasks from optically determining the polar alignment for the telescope to the actual construction of the lunar observatory structure.

Lunar observation from the Walker County site is expected to last two to five years, with the observatory and specialized scientific equipment being used for a much longer period of time, as new NASA projects are announced.

Additional information about the project and live views of data collected are available via the Science and Technology Center section of the Walker County School District website at http://www.walkerschools.org/content/view/63/47/