Category Archives: Space Center Houston

PRESS RELEASE

Top executives continue to land at Space Center Houston. The educationally focused nonprofit’s latest management addition is Daniel Newmyer, a nationally awarded space science educator and business owner appointed as the new director of education.

Newmyer is a seasoned educator with approximately 20 years combined in formal and informal education and 20 years of business leadership and project management experience. Newmyer will lead the center’s interactive educational programs attended by more than 100,000 educators and students annually from around the world.

“Daniel is a dynamic visionary in education who has been connecting students with innovation, creative thinking and problem-solving skills for more than a decade,” said Tracy Lamm, chief operating officer of the nonprofit. “With his hands-on teaching experience and extensive knowledge in research-based education practices, the center’s growing educational programs will empower students and educators in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”

His tremendous academic experience most recently includes serving as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Education Fellow in the Office of Education for NASA Headquarters and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In that role, Newmyer led the development and implementation of NASA Goddard Mission’s Educational Moment Opportunities for STEM and informal Student Leadership Forums for kindergarten through 12^th grade. He also delivered educator professional development programs to Maryland Master Educators and an informal science lesson at the White House.

Newmyer was a secondary math and science teacher at Center (Colorado) Consolidated School District where he designed engaging curriculum and implemented award-winning scientific research and informal STEM-based programs.

In his career, Newmyer managed business operations and water development projects as president of NWP Drilling and Consulting, LLC. He also partnered with organizations to offer training to local people in Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Tanzania, Nigeria and Mozambique on groundwater and community development. He created and taught a weeklong course at his company’s home site to teach people how to do humanitarian water projects.

“My philosophy in education is to meet people where they are and empower them through discovery to change the world around them,” Newmyer said.

Newmyer received the national 2013 Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award, which is given annually to recognize creative and innovative use of technology by K-12 educators or district-level education personnel. He was named a Society for Science and the Public Fellow in 2009, a Siemens STEM Institute Fellow in 2011, Lockheed Martin Science Teacher of the Year in 2011 and Colorado Parks and Wildlife 2012 Wildlife Educator Facilitator of the Year.

He holds a master’s of education with honors and an emphasis on leadership and space science from Regis University in Denver, Colorado; a bachelor’s of science in business administration with a finance emphasis on entrepreneurship and international business from the University of Colorado in Boulder; and an associate of applied science in water well technology from Trinidad State Junior College in Alamosa, Colorado. Newmyer earned a professional teacher’s license from Colorado and is currently studying through Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, National Capital Region in Arlington, Virginia, for certification as a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute.

The next landmark event at Space Center Houston is the Jan. 23 opening of Independence Plaza, a multi-exhibit complex featuring a full-scale shuttle replica on top of the original shuttle carrier aircraft. The eight-story-tall complex will open as the only exhibit of its kind in the world with educational displays focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  For more information about Space Center Houston, visit spacecenter.org.

PRESS RELEASE

Space Center Houston will open the new international landmark Independence Plaza on Jan. 23.

The eight-story-tall multiple-exhibit complex is the biggest project for the nonprofit since the center opened in 1992 and features a shuttle replica mounted on top of the first shuttle carrier aircraft.

“Completing Independence Plaza is the result of years of planning and dedication by many generous people from the Manned Space Flight Education Foundation, NASA Johnson Space Center and donors throughout the country,” said Richard E. Allen Jr., president and CEO of Space Center Houston. “Thanks to hundreds of supporters, this incredible exhibit will challenge visitors to think about innovation and creativity.”

The announcement comes on the anniversary of the first free flight of a shuttle on Aug. 12, 1977, when Enterprise was released from atop what is now Space Center Houston’s shuttle carrier aircraft, NASA 905. That SCA ferried shuttles 223 times and now carries the high-fidelity shuttle replica Independence, the world’s only shuttle mounted on an SCA and the only place where the public will be able to enter both.

The jumbo-sized complex will give visitors a rare glimpse into the historic shuttle era and the NASA breakthroughs and technological advances gained from the shuttle program, which impacted future exploration. An elevator tower will take visitors inside both the shuttle and the airplane. In the shuttle they will see the flight deck, mid-deck, payload bay and exhibits. The airplane will have multiple exhibits in seven different areas that explore innovation, science and technology. Visitors will see inside the plane’s cockpit and learn how the plane was retrofitted to carry the shuttle.

Supporting Space Center Houston’s educational mission, the exhibits also emphasize problem-solving concepts and possible career paths in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It honors those who designed, built and flew in America’s space shuttle program by recounting stories from astronauts, engineers and pilots.  The plaza shows the key role NASA Johnson Space Center played in the shuttle’s development and looks to the future at research and science happening now at NASA.

The exhibit complex will host educational programs and be used for special and private events in and around the plane. Visit www.spacecenter.org/independence to learn more.

The nonprofit has raised $10.1 million in the $12 million capital campaign called Bring the Legacy Home. To join the many generous donors who honored the remarkable story of the shuttle program, visit www.spacecenter.org/giving.