SAC Museum Receives Contract as a Center of Excellence

The Education Department at the SAC Museum recently received a contract in the amount of $29,986.

Beyond School Bells and the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation picked the Education team at the Museum in a collaborative partnership to be a Center of Excellence. As a Center of Excellence, the Education team will be developing a ‘STEM in Space’ workbook that includes activities corresponding to current National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) directives, such as the Artemis Mission series and James Webb Space Telescope during the 2023 year.

The contract will ensure that a valuable resource for high-quality, hands-on, engaging, space-based STEM content is made widely available to the Nebraska community at large and beyond, especially for the before/after school and out-of-school time programs.

Clayton Anderson, Executive Director & CEO of the SAC Aero Museum, a U.S. Astronaut, Retired, provides a valuable perspective for the project. When asked about the award, Mr. Anderson stated,

“The SAC Aero Museum is incredibly honored to be named a Center of Excellence by Beyond School Bells and the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation. Committed to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education for all, we are beyond excited about this project opportunity. To be developing a ‘STEM in Space’ workbook that ties NASA missions into hands-on, engaging, space-based STEM content—that will ultimately touch nearly every student in Nebraska—is exactly what we should be doing!” – Clayton Anderson

The SAC Aero Museum, located between Lincoln and Omaha near Interstate 80, utilizes over 300,000 square feet of exhibit, education, and event space to educate, inspire, and entertain its guests who come from Nebraska, across the country, and around the world. The Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, aims to become the Midwest’s pre-eminent aerospace educational museum facility. By uniting its strong Cold War heritage and ties to STRATCOM with America’s burgeoning future in outer space, the museum endeavors to “entertain, educate, and inspire” each and every visitor with immersive, educating, and interactive opportunities illustrating how our past shapes our future.