By DOUGLAS W. MOTLEY
Senior Writer
Dr. Lorann Parker, president of the Mountain Skies Astrological Society (MSAS), is looking forward to achieving her longtime goal of adding a planetarium to the MSAS Astronomy Village and observatory, located on a hilltop adjacent to Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead.
The planetarium was donated to MSAS by officials at Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento and has been in a storage facility for several years, pending the completion of a fundraising campaign to cover the costs of reassembling it. Parker told the Alpine Mountaineer in an exclusive Feb. 24 interview, “This project allows us the ability to hold programs, even when we can’t use the observatory because of weather conditions.” Ironically, she had to cancel a planned program scheduled for last Saturday evening due to cloudy weather.
Artist’s rendering of planned planetarium at Mountain Skies Astronomy Village.
“This is a historical projector that we will be using. It is a Spitz Planetarium that was used at Mather Air Force Base for years to teach stellar navigation to pilots. At Christmastime, for years, they used this system to share the Star of Bethlehem, really the planet Jupiter, with the general public. We are proud to have this unit at our future planetarium.”
According to Dr. Parker, her nonprofit organization has raised roughly half of the $90,000 needed for building permits and materials to reconstruct the historic planetarium. “Between the observatory and planetarium, we will finally be able to provide the public with a complete educational experience,” Parker said, adding that all businesses, schools, organizations and the pubic are invited to an open house, weather permitting, on Saturday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Guests, Parker said, will be able to tour the facility and check out the research grade telescope and attend a short program in the education building.
MSAS is located at 2001 Observatory Way, one block south of Rim of the World High School on Hwy 18. Admission is $8 for children 15 and under and $12 for adults. Call (909) 336-1699 for reservations.
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