![[photo, Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/01glance/museums/bcity/images/1198-1-1380.jpg)
Maryland Science Center, 601 Light St., Baltimore, Maryland, June 2006. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
Maryland's relation to astronomy dates to the 17th century. Arthur Storer (c. 1642-1686), the first astronomer in the American colonies, moved to Calvert County, Maryland, in 1678. Storer was among the first to sight and record data describing Haley's Comet on its return in 1682.
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER
Formed in May 1959, Goddard Space Flight Center is in Greenbelt. The Center was named for Robert Hutchings Goddard, the father of modern rocket propulsion. As part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Center was the first space flight complex established by NASA.
The Center is the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers, and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study Earth, the sun, our solar system and the universe.
MARYLAND SCIENCE CENTER
Founded in 1797, the Maryland Academy of Sciences opened its new home, the Maryland Science Center, in June 1976. The Center, including its Davis Planetarium and IMAX Theater, borders the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.
SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
For the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) operates the Space Telescope Science Institute at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
The Institute is responsible for the science program of the Hubble Space Telescope and will conduct the science and mission operations for its successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, which is due to launch in 2018. The Insitute also supports other astronomy programs and conducts scientific research.
© Copyright Maryland State Archives