Program 3: Spaceship South Pole

Student Learning Objectives

• Define and compare Earth's "4 South Poles."
• Describe, using the videos and online resources, astronomical research involving infrared light in Antarctica.
• Work cooperatively to design a new South Pole Station which reflects climate, environmental considerations, and the human dimension of research at the Pole.

Summary

Please note: This program will attempt the first-ever live telecast from the South Pole. This opportunity has been made possible only by the hard work of NSF, NASA, and the "loan" of a satellite from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. "Firsts" are exciting but also somewhat risky! We cannot predict what technical or other logistical problems may result in late changes to program content!

(The New Explorers, hosted by Bill Kurtis, joins MPT to present this special program and provide a live uplink site in Chicago. The New Explorers is a co- production of WTTW/Chicago and Kurtis Productions, Ltd.)

Surviving at the Pole is about as good an analogy for living and working in space as can be found anywhere on Earth, hence the program's title: Spaceship South Pole. The Live from Antarctica video crew will have spent the holidays at America's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Students, of course, know what the holiday is like at the North Pole, but this will be a revealing and realistic look at the other end of the planet! You'll see what the 150 or so scientists and support staff in residence get up to on December 24.

We'll also show everyday life and work in some of the most extreme conditions anywhere on Earth. The National Science Foundation has begun a total redesign of the South Pole Station, to make it safer, more energy- efficient, and better equipped with telecommunications tools in order to upgrade support for science. We'll explain why the new living modules are raised high on stilts, and why all other buildings will be situated under ice. We'll also see plans, in which NASA is collaborating with NSF, to make the new station far more self-sufficient in food and water-including ideas for an edible park!

The end of the Earth is also a good place to study the origin of the Universe, because Antarctica is one of the best astronomical sites on our planet. Scientists from CARA, the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica, describe the new telescopes which have been assembled at the South Pole over the past few years, and show spectacular images from the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy into Jupiter, for which the SPIREX (infrared) telescope had the most uninterrupted view of any observatory on Earth. (CARA is a member of the Live from Antarctica educational team, and has mounted many special files, of interest to teachers and students, on-line. Please browse and download these to provide additional information to background this program.)

This program will also feature, live and on camera, the annual repositioning of the geographical South Pole, necessitated by the slippage of the ice sheet over the underlying surface. (See April Whitt's "Dairy" entry about last year's repositioning.) Seventeen-year-old Chicago student Elizabeth Felton, selected to participate in an NSF program that takes teachers and students to Antarctica, will help move the marker and have a chance to make appropriate "ceremonial" comments. Animation from the United States Geological Survey will describe how Earth's exact geographical South Pole is determined using Global Positioning Satellites, and also explain the other three South Poles.

Locations in Antarctica

• The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (site of the exact geographic South Pole and the "ceremonial" Pole).
• Interior: the CARA-Amanda building (site of the controls of the SPIREX telescope).

Locations in the U S

• Chicago (home of CARA and Elizabeth Felton).
• Virginia (home of third grade teacher April Lloyd, who will also be at the Pole).
• Hawaii (the only U.S. school system likely to be "live" in regular sessions during this broadcast, which will be late in the day because of limited satellite visibilities).

Featured Experts and Educators

MARK HERELD heads the SPIREX (South Pole Infrared Explorer) investigation at the South Pole. The SPIREX telescope surveys light in near-infrared wavelengths, looking for galaxies and brown dwarf stars. Because the South Pole points towards a "hole" in the celestial background, SPIREX can see light from galaxies formed in the early universe.

NOAA LT. KATE McNITT works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Monitoring and Diagnostic Lab. She measures halocarbons, carbon dioxide, and other substances that affect Earth's climate. She writes: "I'm an officer in the NOAA Corps, one of 400 men and women commissioned by the United States government to drive ships, fly airplanes, and serve as managers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. I spent two years as a junior officer on the NOAA ship, Whiting. We used sonar equipment to make contour maps of the ocean floor. My favorite parts of that job were maneuvering the ship and scuba diving on shipwrecks. I have wintered once before at the South Pole and I'm really looking forward to a second year in this magic place."

APRIL LLOYD, a third grade teacher from Charlottesville, Virginia, will spend two weeks at the South Pole. She writes: "I have taught third grade for the past six years. I am an avid user of technology and believe that reform in education must incorporate the inclusion of public schools in the Internet Information Super Highway. My goal is to create a classroom where students look forward to coming to school each day, where they like to learn and feel comfortable looking for answers to difficult questions. If children feel that they have the power to learn, with people available to help them, our future is bright."

ELIZABETH FELTON: Go on-line for information about Elizabeth, her "Field Journal" describing her travels from Chicago's public schools to the South Pole and her dream of becoming an astronaut!

Engage

Before scientists take equipment to the South Pole, they conduct tests simulating the conditions under which it will have to work. Nothing behaves quite the way it normally does under such extreme conditions, neither equipment nor people! It takes about 2-3 times as long to complete a task as it does under more normal circumstances. As your students go through this activity, have them think about their own minds' and bodies' responses to such conditions. Dry ice is very close to the temperature of the South Pole.

Explore

Build a CO2 Test Box

Students will need a styrofoam cooler, cardboard box, ice chest, or any type of closed container in which they can place a piece of dry ice. Have them close the lid and let the "box" temperature stabilize. When the temperature is constant throughout the inside, we say it is in thermal equilibrium. Students will need to check the temperature using a thermometer. When the temperature stops decreasing, students can begin placing objects into the box to see how the cold affects their ability to work. Some objects they might try are ball bearings, electric circuits, material samples (rubber, cotton, wool), wet things, water at different temperatures in different containers (plastic, paper, metal).

Students can invent their own experiments. Older students may want to design simple machines, electrical circuits, or motors and compete for the design that withstands the most cold.

Expand

Have students think about how the cold temperature affects the kind of work that scientists must do in their research.

• What kinds of activities would be difficult that are easy in temperate places?
• How does the design of instruments and buildings have to reflect the cold, dry atmosphere?
• Students might want to go on-line and search CARA's files for letters from John Briggs and others that contain anecdotes and details about life at the Pole. (see fig.3.1)

Engage

If you were to visit the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, one of the first things you would probably do is to have your picture taken next to the ceremonial South Pole. As you'll see in the videos, it is the one with the barber pole stripe and reflecting globe on the top. Surrounding it is a circle of flags of the nations who have signed the Antarctic Treaty. It is placed where it is because it's in a convenient location close to the station and within the aircraft "skiway" turnaround circle. But it is not the true geographic South Pole of the Earth.

The real South Pole is a couple of hundred meters beyond the ceremonial pole in the direction opposite to the station dome. It is a stake with a brass plaque on top. Next to it is a sign that labels it as the Geographic South Pole. This one is the real thing. But if you look beyond it you see a long line of old pole stakes. In past years, each of these stakes used to be the Geographic South Pole. Each stake is about twelve feet long, but about two-thirds gets pounded into the ice. Due to blowing snow, only the most recent markers are visible.

The reason the Geographic Pole needs to be restaked each year is not because the Earth's pole itself is moving, but rather because the 3-km-thick ice sheet is sliding across the continent 10 meters every year. The geographical marker on the pole moves about 9.2 meters per year along with the flowing ice.

Explore

If the first marker was staked in 1982, and one has been placed yearly since then:

• How many are there?
• What is the distance from the first pole to the one staked in 1995?
• If the markers are in a straight line, does that indicate that the ice sheet moves in a straight line?
• How long before the first marker reaches the ocean?

Students can sketch or trace a model of the continent and mark the South Pole and their map to scale showing the numbers and positions of each year's South Pole marker. They should be able to check any mathematical calculations by their scale map in much the same way the GPS uses two methods to verify the actual pole location. In addition, after January 12, they will be able to find on-line Elizabeth's and April's descriptions of what it was like at the Pole.

Explain

There are actually four South Poles. Two, as we have seen, are at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, but one is not even on the Antarctic continent! The one that is out in the sea is the south magnetic pole of the Earth. This is the one that the tail of a compass needle points toward. The magnetic pole is determined by the magnetic fields that are generated deep in the Earth's core. These fields move about quite a bit and actually flip from south to north over long time scales. Thus, the south magnetic pole is rarely found near the real South Pole of the Earth. The fourth South Pole is the geomagnetic pole, which is found at the center of the aurora caused by the intervention of particles originating in the sun and the Earth's magnetic fields.

At the South Pole, one is standing atop a nearly 3-km-thick icecap. Over a long time, ice slowly moves downhill. In this case, downhill is in the direction of the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, some 1,200 km away. At this rate, in about 120,000 years the current South Pole Station will drop into the sea.

Objective

To have students analyze and evaluate data and develop an appropriate model

Engage

The United States owns and operates the Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole. Named for the two explorers who led the first expeditions to the Pole, it is the most inaccessible, hostile place on Earth, yet an excellent place to conduct science.

The current facility is really the second to be erected at the South Pole. The first was installed in the late 1950s, initially on the surface but snow drifted over it. Another problem was that, over time, the ice moved, making tunnels and rooms unsafe. It was abandoned in 1975. The current facility was also built on the surface. (It too is being buried by drifting snow!) At its center is a geodesic dome (diameter = 160 ft.). Under the dome are several separate buildings. Radiating from the dome are storage and working "arches", large (width = 50 ft.), semi-circular pieces of corrugated aluminum. Outside are smaller, specialized buildings, even tents!

Mission: Your mission is to begin the design of the third South Pole research station, named "Gamma" for the third letter of the Greek alphabet. You will use elevated building structures as well as "arches." You may also consider tunneling under the snow to connect the structures. The structures will need to house about 30 people over the winter and up to 130-140 people in austral summer. The construction will need to be carried out during the summer.

Explore

Phase 1: Planning the Station

Divide your group into five teams. Distribute a copy of "Cold Facts About the South Pole" and unit fact sheets to each team. These teams will work together to design plans for the construction of one of five separate units of the base.

• Transportation and Engineering Unit
• Science and Technology Unit
• Habitat Support Unit
• Health and Recreation Unit
• Control Center Unit

At the end of your brainstorming time, you should have produced the following:

1. Some draft sketches to share with the whole group
2. A set of challenges and questions for the cross-team discussion
3. A list of the most important connections to the other four units
4. A description of the main environmental problem faced by your unit
5. A list of design questions that you would like to ask engineers, researchers, or scientists regarding the construction of Gamma South Pole Station.

If you are linked to our on-line resources, you will have the opportunity to send questions to our team of scientists and students working on this project.

Phase 2: Building the Station

Discussion Questions: What is the most important thing you would need to study to take your unit's design to the next stage?

Working as an integrated team, design the overall structure. Your class might want this structure to be a 3-D scale model, blueprint, floor plan, schematic drawing, or picture. If you have access to a computer with graphics software, this could be designed on the screen. Each team should contribute an overall design.

Environmental Issues

• The Antarctic Treaty aims to keep Antarctica the cleanest region in the world. Except for human wastes, everything else at the South Pole must be separated and sent back in a process called "retrograding."
• Nuclear wastes (but not nuclear power) and certain chemicals are banned.
• Energy is generated by burning diesel fuel brought in by aircraft.

Fact Sheet 1: Transportation and Engineering Unit

The TE unit is responsible for vehicular activity, construction, managing and operating fire-fighting equipment.

Unit Facilities Include the following in your first draft:

• skiway operations
• tunneling
• fire fighting
• construction
• vehicles

Specific Constraints

• Outside construction only occurs during summer.
• Skiway maintenance requires keeping the runway snow packed down and clear of drifts.
• Electric vehicle batteries don't fare well in cold.
• Tunnels between units are necessary. Coldest temperatures (below 70o F) prevent outdoor travel.
• Aircraft rarely stay at the Pole. Pilots keep engines running, then return to McMurdo.

Connection Questions

• How does this unit interact with others if a fire occurs?
• What might be used to fight fires? Is a small inside fire the same problem as for large buildings?
• Where do materials and fuels off-loaded from the aircraft go? What about things waiting to be loaded?
• What kinds and how many vehicles might be needed?
• How will the base get enough snow to melt for water?

Don't Forget!

• Fire is the greatest danger to the base.
• The aircraft runway, including taxiway and other structures needed for aircraft.
• Vehicles need frequent maintenance.
• Engines need to be kept warm at all times.
• Construction requires material storage and tool shops.

Fact Sheet 2: Habitat Support Unit

The HS unit is necessary to the survival and operation of all buildings. One of its most important functions is generating energy for the stations. HS manages wastes, water, and storage of essential supplies. The unit is responsible for emergency backup energy systems and stockpiling supplies. It also separates, recycles, and prepares for shipment wastes that can't be left at the base.

Unit Facilities Include the following in your first draft:

• temperature control
• energy generation and fuels
• waste management
• water management
• storage and backup

Specific Constraints

• At the present time, diesel fuel brought in by aircraft is the only reliable and practical way to generate electrical and most heat energy.
• Waste water (dish water, etc.) can't be "dumped" into the snow. (At this time, human waste is an exception.)
• All fresh water must be generated by melting snow. This requires "mining" the snow and supplying enough energy to melt it and keep it liquid.
• If there were a power failure or other catastrophe requiring evacuation of base personnel, delays of up to eight months could occur before an aircraft could land. Remember, no planes are stationed at the Pole.

Connection Questions

• Should heat be generated in one place and "piped" around or should it be generated at each building?
• What about water? How would you store and move it?
• Can everything that needs to be stored be frozen?

Don't Forget!

• If you run water pipes below the surface, they must be heated, because the snow at the pole is -58o F
• Wastes for return to McMurdo must be separated and packed for shipping.
• You'll need toilets.

Fact Sheet 3: Science and Technology Unit

The ST unit conducts the basic science and technology research. It is the primary reason all the other units exist. Astronomical research exploits the clear, cold, and stable skies at the Pole. Atmospheric research concentrates on studying the cleanest air on Earth as well as keeping a watch on the ozone layer.

Unit Facilities: Include the following in your first draft:

• astronomical observatory (includes two telescopes--one is a radio telescope dish 8 meters in diameter and the other is an optical telescope 2.5 meters in diameter and 5 meters long)
• human physiology and psychology
• atmospheric science (includes "sniffing" instruments as well as a place to launch small balloons)
• experimental greenhouse (a provision must be made for lighting in winter)
• solar energy research

Specific Constraints

• Both astronomy and atmospheric research need to be upwind and as far as possible from the light, heat, and pollution of the other base activities.
• This unit's facilities also need to be located away from communication antennas and other sources of electromagnetic pollution.
• Most of the research will be done during the dark winter time.
• The greenhouse is for fresh vegetables that can't be flown in, and a place where people might enjoy working and being.
• Solar energy is only available in summer.

Connection Questions to get you started:

• If located away from other station units, how will scientists travel to these facilities during the cold of winter?
• How can the sun's energy be utilized at the Pole?
• Is a reference library needed, and if so, where?

Don't Forget!

• Scientists will generate most of the station's computer information.
• Scientists need workshops and labs to prepare devices and to service equipment.
• Research telescopes aren't viewed directly with the eye anymore. Astronomers use video cameras.

Fact Sheet 4: Control Center Unit

The CC unit is the central nervous system of the base. It must monitor and manage all the information flowing within the station. It's responsible for all communications within the base as well as between the base and the outside world.

Unit Facilities :Include the following in your first draft:

• systems monitoring
• environmental protection (This means monitoring weather changes and alerting rest of crew when precautionary or emergency actions need to be taken.)
• communications
• computing and information management
• general offices and meeting area

Specific Constraints

• Internal communications must rely on the station's own systems. There is no outside-operated phone system.
• Data communications with the outside must be done using a satellite that "wanders" into view for a few hours every day. All normal satellites are below the horizon at the Pole.
• Voice communication with the outside world is on high-frequency (short-wave) radios.
• The snow doesn't conduct electricity, so it's impossible to ground everything properly. Furthermore, the extremely cold temperatures make the transmission of weak electrical currents inefficient. This means that buildings should be connected by nonconducting links--fiber optics or radio.

Connection Questions

• What about recreational and personal communications using computers? Should they be done here or in the HR unit?
• How important are personal communications with the outside world?
• What would happen to this area if there were any interruption in power?

Don't Forget!

• There must be a way to alert people when there is an emergency. That means that this unit must be operated continuously.
• This unit handles its own as well as regional air-traffic control.
• You'll need to place the communications antennas well away from the ST unit.
• Station computer is managed by this unit.

Fact Sheet 5: Health and Recreation Unit

The HR unit is where the station personnel will spend all of their time when not working. They will sleep, eat, and play here. This unit also contains the medical facilities where the doctor works and can perform simple medical procedures.

Unit Facilities: Include the following facilities on your first-draft design:

• leisure and exercise
• personal hygiene
• galley
• health maintenance
• crew quarters

Specific Constraints

• There is no broadcast TV or AM/FM radio at the Pole.
• Outdoor recreation is severely limited by the cold. There is some cross-country skiing, but when it's very cold, all outside movement is prohibited.
• The isolation and cramped quarters make individual bunk rooms desirable.
• Major medical problems are handled by evacuation. There is no need to plan for hospital or surgical needs.
• Smoking is prohibited everywhere.

Connection Questions

• How much space will be needed to bunk everyone?
• What sort of wastes will be generated by this unit and who will have to take care of them?

Don't Forget!

• The galley will provide food storage space.
• Facilities for cleaning clothes.
• The galley kitchen is a prime fire hazard.
• Recreation facilities should allow a well-rounded range of exercise as well as some team-sport games.
• Provide facilities for nonathletic pursuits, reading, and board games.

The United States' Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is named for the two explorers who led the first expeditions there from 1911-1912. Located in perhaps the most inaccessible and hostile environment on the earth, it is also an excellent place to conduct many types of scientific research. In many ways, it can be considered an analog to future bases on the Moon or Mars. From this vantage point atop the three-kilometer-thick polar ice sheet--the coldest, driest desert in the world--astronomers hope to achieve the clearest views possible of the most distant reaches of the observable universe from the surface of the earth.

The key to achieving their goals is establishing a base of operations that will allow them to work and operate their telescopes through the six-month- polar winter, when observing conditions are best, and living conditions are worst! To that end, work has been proceeding for the past several years on a new complex of telescopes and supporting laboratories approximately one kilometer from the geodesic dome of the main South Pole base. It is called the "dark sector," reflecting the fact that the telescopes need to be isolated from the effects of light, heat, and electromagnetic interference resulting from the other activities required to support life in the harsh polar environment.

Telescopes now being installed at the site will support research by the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA) aimed at investigating the formation of structure in the universe. The CARA telescopes include SPIREX (the South Pole Infrared Explorer), COBRA (a Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy experiment), and AST/RO (an Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory). All of these telescopes make use of the special properties of the polar environment and climate to observe types of radiation that can't be seen by the human eye.

Note: Additional activities on the characteristics of infrared light and its use in astronomy and in cryogenics can be found on-line.

Site Conditions

• Temperatures: Mean = -58o F. Max. = +7.5o F. Min. = -117o F.
• Altitude: 9,300 feet. Cold and polar location make it effectively 10,600 feet elevation. Humidity is the lowest on Earth.
• Precipitation: Less than 1 foot accumulation per year. The topography is flat for hundreds of miles around the South Pole. As a result, any structure resting on the surface accumulates snow drifts and is eventually buried.
• Wind: Average speeds are 12 mph. They rarely go above 20 mph, nor change direction.
• Glacier: Ice thickness is 9,000 feet. and moves at a rate of about 30 feet per year at the Pole. The plateau maintains this elevation for nearly one million square miles. The South Pole sits on the largest source of fresh water in the world.
• Sunlight: The sun is totally above the horizon from Sept. 23 to March 21. Twilight lasts approximately a month, followed by polar night from April 15 to Aug. 15.

Logistics & Communications

• Route: The South Pole is 800 miles from McMurdo Station, the US facility that provides supplies and support.
• Aircraft: Six LC130 Hercules aircraft are able to land at the Pole. Each can carry 11 tons of cargo. There are no winter landings.
• Communications: Normal geostationary satellites are not above the horizon at the South Pole. Currently, the station depends upon an old satellite (ATS-3) that is visible for a few hours per day. Land phone lines are impossible considering the distances and environment. High- frequency radio is used, but only for voice and it is often interrupted by solar activity.

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica

Well, it's Boxing Day here at South Pole Station. It's also Sunday so the ASA staff has the day off, and weĠre fending for ourselves on the food front. The weather has been utterly beautiful. Yesterday was -25 F, windchill -60 F, but still not bad for short walks. Today there's some breeze, and it's amazing how much colder that makes it feel!

At 2:00 this afternoon the official South Pole was placed in its carefully calculated spot.

Cathleen McDermott and Dale Benson of the USGS (United States Geological Survey) brought the pole with them on the plane trip to the Pole. The geographical marker on the pole moves about 9.2 meters per year with the flowing ice. They used two methods to find the new spot. One is called the Shadow Tip method. If you stand where the pole is and look, you can see the straight line of poles stretching off toward the distance. The Shadow Tip method involves putting a tripod on top of the old marker and sticking an eight foot pole on the tripod. When the sun gets to azimuth 40 degrees west of north, it is lined up with the other markers, and the tip of the shadow of the eight foot pole marks where the new pole should go. Early Saturday morning they made the measurements.

The other method used the Global Positioning System (GPS). A satellite network was used to determine X and Y lines and their intersection was 0 degrees (or 90 south). The GPS reading is a few inches off from the shadow- tip reading, so there is an official pole at the shadow tip and a little pipe at the GPS spot.

The pole is about twelve feet long, but about two-thirds gets pounded into the ground (ice). There were about 30-35 people out in the blowing snow (the sky clouded over at about 10:30 this morning, the temperature was -9 F, wind chill -46 F: colder than yesterday!) Dale explained how the position of the pole was determined. He said that it has been 350 days since the last pole was placed (Jan. 8 of this year). Cathy put the pole on the spot and Dave Fischer got to take the first whack at pounding it in, with the special neon orange mallet.

Then each of us got to take a turn pounding it in ...The pole has a decorative plaque on top, which was protected from our pounding by some bubble wrap and a small block of wood held on with rubber bands. After everyone had had their picture taken pounding on the pole, somebody finished pounding it in the rest of the way, and the protective wood was removed. The plaque has a little dome on it that looks like the station dome. When I have time, and the wind dies down, I will go look more carefully at the others. It was lots of fun, but the wind was so cold we went back in for hot chocolate right away. And the REAL POLE is set for another year.

April Whitt

(Editor's note: April Whitt, a high school educator, spent time at South Pole in the austral summer of 1993.)

Books

Bender, Lionel. Telescopes. Rourke, 1991, 48 pp., illus,. gr. 5-8.
Chaple, Glenn F. Exploring with a Telescope. Watts, 1988, 128 pp., gr. 7-up. 
Hackwell, John W. Desert of Ice: Life and Work in Antarctica. Charles 
Scribner's Sons, 1991. 
Our Changing Earth. National Geographic Society, 
1993, 200 pp. 
Taylor, Barb. Bouncing and Bending Light. Franklin Watts, 1990, 32 pp.
Taylor, Barb. Electricity and Magnets. Franklin Watts, 1990, 32 pp., gr. 5-8
Unlocking the Secrets of the Universe. National Geographic Society, 1993, 200 
pp. 

Magazine Articles

"Antarctic astronomy," anonymous, Sky and Telescope, April 1994, p. 10.
"Building a snow dome," by Cliff Jacobson, Boys Life, Dec. 1992, p. 66.
"In Antarctica, scientists go with the floe," by Michael Stroh, Science 
News, Feb. 22, 1992, p. 115.
"Reclaiming a lost Antarctic base," by Michael Parfit, National Geographic, 
March 1993, pp. 110-126.

Filmstrips and Videos

Science on Ice: Research in Antarctica, produced by Cable News Network, 
available from Britannica, VHS video, 21 minutes.
Light and the Electronic Spectrum, Coronet/MTI Learning Corporation, VHS 
video, 14 minutes, gr. 4-12.
Electricity and Magnetism, Coronet/ MTI Learning Corporation, VHS video, 
17 minutes, gr. 4-12.
Global Forecasting, Coronet/MTI Learning Corporation, VHS video, 14 
minutes, gr. 4-12
The Blue Planet, an IMAX Space Film about the Earth, 1990, VHS videotape, 
40 minutes, for all grade levels.

Apparatus

Project STAR Spectrometer, Harvard Center for Astrophys Project STAR, 
$19.95 (hands-on exploration of light with this spectrometer).
Project STAR Telescope, available from The Astronomical Society of the 
Pacific, San Francisco, CA, $13.95.