Archive for the ‘News’ Category

It has been 10 months since The Johnsville Centrifuge and Science Museum introduced its vision to the public. Our April open house, which featured Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter, was a great success and allowed us to present our goal of providing a first class science and engineering education center to the community. These plans have inspired dozens of volunteers to join us and prompted thousands of dollars in donations.

The museum immediately began its work and cleared the building of debris and has undertaken its first major construction project by removing 42 tons of concrete from the ceiling. Dedicated researchers have uncovered many exciting facts about the center and their exploration of the building discovered a few significant artifacts such as some original Mercury era couches and the “Mayo Tank”. We have retained an architect and a model maker who have produced exciting ideas for the use of the space. We have partnered with many organizations such as the Bucks County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Warminster Tricentennial Committee. We look forward to the months and years ahead as we forge our role as an integral part of the community.

We have discovered some of the extraordinary expenses involved in this and for all our successes we also experienced limitations this winter as we were unable to provide heat for our Sunday tours. I am very proud of our dedicated volunteers who endured cold temperatures while continuing to give of their time.

As is the case with many non-profit organizations, The Johnsville Centrifuge and Science Museum has been impacted by the current economic climate. We receive no federal or state funding, and are wholly reliant on revenue from attendance at museum events, contributions from the public at large and donations from local businesses. We certainly appreciate the generosity of our current supporters however we have reached a critical point in our short existence and are in danger of not fulfilling our goals. We are making an appeal to the public and local businesses to help us. We believe that the Johnsville Centrifuge and the legacy of NADC’s technological innovation is worth saving. From the reactions of visitors, we know it is important to the community as well. Contributions of any size are appreciated. We would also like to find major donors and local businesses that are able to take a leadership role and help us succeed in our mission of creating a world class museum to inspire our youth to pursue an education in science and technology. If you are able to help, please contact me personally at mmaguire@nadcmuseum.org or call me at 267-250-8841. Thank you.

Mike Maguire
President, Johnsville Centrifuge and Science Museum

P.S. We welcome the public to support us by attending our March 27th X-15 Event, our April 7th Apollo 13 40th Anniversary Event, or our May 7th Gala.

I spoke to a local Rotary club this morning about the museum.  During the Q&A one of the members told about his experience as a volunteer test subject on the ejection tower in the 1950’s.  He told about how he had to pull a leather loop from above his head to initiate the explosive charge that was to shoot him up the tower.  The first time the charge did not fire, so they reset and it fired the second time.  After he explained more about what the experience was like to be propelled up the tower by a charge of TNT, I asked him how many times he volunteered for the job.  He simply said, ”Once.” 

Visit us on Sundays between 1 and 3:30 to learn more about the history of innovation at Johnsille.

We were honored to have Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter join us at our open house this past April.  He generously shared his memories of the early days of American space exploration and reminisced about the time he and his fellow Mercury astronauts spent training at Johnsville 50 years earlier.  As I understand it, when he got out of his car in front of the building he took a long look at the building and took his cell phone out of his pocket.  After hitting a speed dial number, he said to the person on the other end of the line, “John, you wouldn’t believe where I am.”   Yes, he was speaking to John Glenn, the only other surviving Mercury astronaut.  How cool is that? 

Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpetner returns to Johnsville to share his memories of the Mercury Program

Have you visited our Facebook page yet?  If not, head on over there now and become our friend.  We are constantly updating and you will be the first to hear all our wonderful news!  By the way, we also have a Twitter page.

Gondola

ATTENTION FORMER JOHNSVILLE SERVICE MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES AND CONTRACTORS: If you worked at Johnsville or Brewster Aircraft or were associated with those facilities in any way, we want to hear your stories.

We are now scheduling oral histories. Help us to preserve the tradition of innovation by sharing your memories with future generations.

Contact us at info@nadcmuseum.org with “Oral History” in the subject line. Include your contact information and we will be sure to get in touch with you to schedule an appointment.

We are overjoyed to write our very first blog entry! This is the Website of the Johnsville Centrifuge– home of the largest human centrifuge! Human Centrifuge? Yes, you read that right! Our facility is where the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts trained to understand the effects of high G-forces on the human body! We are now a museum where you can be inspired and learn about the technological innovations made by the dedicated NADC employees and see where America’s space heroes trained!

You can also find us on Facebook and very soon we will have accounts on Twitter, Flickr and Youtube. Please friend us, follow us, or subscribe to us! Join us as we present to you all the amazing things we are discovering about this amazing facility every day! (Remind us to blog about the day we found the actual CONTOUR COUCHES the astronauts used in training just sitting in the basement for over 40 years!)