Friends of the Austin Planetarium

Mission & Vision

Mission Statement

The Friends of the Austin Planetarium is dedicated to creating a first class planetarium that will educate and inspire the school children and general public of Central Texas about science and space exploration.

FOTAP's Road to Success

Build grassroots support for our efforts by educating the public about the benefits of a planetarium
Rally the support of school leaders and educators
Build interest with investors and local politicians and other influential individuals
Get a commitment on land
[further] Study the current and future needs of the Central Texas region
Develop a final design and scope of the facility
Seek media coverage and commence major fundraising

Vision Statement

The Friends of the Austin Planetarium will create a planetarium and interactive science and technology center that will:

Excite and inspire our students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Meet the growing needs of Austin’s high-tech business environment with well-trained students familiar with technology
Provide the general public with education and resources for astronomy, science, and technology.

Background

Austin is the largest city in the United States without a Planetarium. Due to this fact most people in the Austin area have never visited a planetarium, a majority does not even know what a planetarium is, nor are they knowledgeable about the significant benefits a planetarium brings to a community.

Therefore, education of the general public, educators and local leaders about the benefits of a planetarium is absolutely crucial for the success of FOTAP's mission. As part of this goal FOTAP with the help of the McComb School of Business completed a report on the benefits of a planetarium. Some of the results are listed below:

A planetarium program increased student understanding of related topics by 24%.
A planetarium visit results in an 11% increase in the students’ interest in science as a career.
In a study of 471 sixth graders on planetary motion, a planetarium proved superior to classroom instruction.
Trips to a planetarium or science museum are memorable.

A more comprehensive description of this study can be found here.

In addition FOTAP has surveyed more then 200 local (science) educators about their needs and concerns. We have been able to prove that a vast majority of science teachers feel that the lack of a Planetarium in the Austin region hurts science education and is detrimental to the development of our children's education. Another, very positive, result from our survey indicated that nearly 90% of local educators would 'definitely' or 'probably' take their students to a planetarium as part of their curriculum. This overwhelming figure proves further that a planetarium should be able to sustain itself financially.

Support for an Austin Planetarium

Without any large media coverage FOTAP's website currently attracts close to a 1500 visitors each month. Also, the 'AstroNews' page, the monthly astronomy bulletin written by FOTAP volunteers, has several hundred readers each month. Both of these numbers are growing rapidly, and we project to cross the 50,000 visitor mark by the end of 2007. This indicates an overwhelming support and interest in FOTAP's efforts and in Astronomy and Space Science in general. FOTAP is already filling a void in the education of the Austin region.

Additionally, the corporate support is steadily increasing as well. It is apparent that there is great interest for this project and even before a firm commitment for land FOTAP has been able to attract several business sponsors. These sponsors are listed on our sponsors page.

If you or your business would like to support FOTAP as well, please do not hesitate to contact FOTAP. Together we can fulfill FOTAP's mission:

Austin needs a Planetarium!

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