Local Challenger website opens this month

St. Louis' new Challenger Learning Center won't open until November. But, you can start learning about the space center this month when its website goes on-line.

Tasmyn Front is director of the center that will give St. Louis kids and their families a look at space exploration. The center's grand opening will be Monday, Nov. 17.

The building, now being remodeled, is near the new McCluer South-Berkeley High School in north Saint Louis County.

But, before that building opens, the center's website will give everyone a taste of what's coming. The address will be: www.clcstlouis.org. If the website isn't on-line when you read this story, try later in September.

Director Front promised Young Saint Louis.com the website will be up and running before the end of the month.

One important part of the website's content will be a description of the center's first theme, which is "Voyage to Mars." The center will be set up as if you were preparing for a trip to the Red Planet.

Sending a space probe to Mars is one of the nation's top priorities for future space travel.

Another website function is to allow school groups and even individuals to make reservations to visit the center. The center will be open to school classes as well as groups from community organizations and corporations.

Even individual kids and their families can reserve a time. Individuals and families will be grouped with others to make up study groups of from 18 to 36 people.

A special Resources page on the website will have reservation forms which can be downloaded. Or you can contact Ms. Front by phone at (314) 506-9144 or by e-mail at tfront@fergflor.k12.mo.us.

The website will include a home page with a lot of special features. Other sections, besides Resources, will be Missions, Calendar, Pressroom, and Contact.

One of the special features in the Resources section will be a link to a national index of the 48 other Challenger sites across the country. You'll be able to go to those local sites to see what they do.

The nearest Challenger sites currently open are in Kansas City, Woodstock, Ill., and Paducah, Ky. Another Illinois site at Bloomington, Ill., also is due to open this year.

Ms. Front said, "The Challenger Center is a new, exciting learning opportunity to come to St. Louis. We're glad to be able to offer this to the community."

She said the center is a "living memorial" to the crew of Challenger who died in the explosion shortly after take-off in 1986. Families of the crew members helped to set up a non-profit organization to underwrite the centers.

The first program offered will be "Voyage to Mars." Ms. Front said other "scenarios" will be included in future months. A complete description of the "Voyage to Mars" program will be found on the Mission section of the website.

The Challenger center already has reservations from over 100 school, corporation and community groups. The center has capacity to serve 18 groups per week.

Ms. Front said all available slots have been reserved for November. "There are one or two slots still open in December," she said.

She said the advance flow of reservations has been "very good." The advance registration of 100 groups amounts to nearly 1 1/2 months of programs. School or community groups outside of the immediate St. Louis area also can make reservations, she said.

If a school class makes a reservation, the center also provides a 4- to 6-week study curriculum. That is used in class before the kids come to the center. Teachers can get a 6-hour training session to help them prepare for the class work.

The center will feature a "mission control" room along with a "Mars transport vehicle" work station. When visiting the center, kids will be able to staff both rooms to run their own "Voyage to Mars."

On the Calendar section of the website, you'll be able to keep up with upcoming programs and events. That way you can plan ahead for future visits to the center.

The Pressroom section will be for reprints of press releases or articles on the center. The Contact section will include ways to contact the center's staff. That section also will have a map of the center's floor plan and directions to the center.