In the past, the planetarium drew annual crowds upwards of 4,000 people – from astronomy students to local residents to nearby grade school students. The directors were as much a draw as the fantastic equipment. From its beginning in 1946 to its closing in 2007, it was led by a rotating array of directors:

• Maurice Thaddeus Brackbill, 1946 – 1956;

• Robert C. Lehman, 1956 – 1958;
• John Hershey, 1958 – 1960;
• John Horst, 1960 – 1962;
• Lehman, 1962 – 1979;
• Horst, 1979 – 1986;
• Joseph Mast, 1986 – 2005;
• Horst, 2005 – 2007.

But the roots of the planetarium run even deeper, hailing back to a group of students and Professor Brackbill, circa 1930, on the roof of the Administration Building. Brackbill, who had a master’s degree in astronomy, was a science, math and English professor, registrar, dorm hall manager, chorister and athletic association president during his decades of service to EMC – from the school’s founding in 1917 to his retirement in 1956.

In the early thirties, he founded the Astral Society – a group of students who gathered on top of the Ad Building to watch the stars. An “Astralite” was a member who could name all the constellations and 90 stars.

New observatory contains state-of-the-art projector

The Astral Society, along with the class of 1938, raised funds to build the Vesper Heights Observatory on top of “The Hill” (the white-domed, cylindrical building still exists adjacent to the Discipleship Center).

Brackbill called the observatory, equipped with a six-inch refracting telescope, an “enviable little sky port where the star rays land and you take off.” However, the metal dome did not open or pivot easily, and the space was converted into a 22-seat planetarium in 1946. The telescope was moved outside.

At that time, planetarium projectors were rarely found outside of metropolitan areas. Brackbill’s friend, Armand N. Spitz, set out to change that. He created the Spitz A-1 star projector, a hand-cranked device with twelve pentagonal sides for displaying stars on a domed ceiling. EMC received the very first Spitz A-1 created; Princeton bought the second.

Professor Emeritus John Horst and Ruby Lehman, wife of the late Professor Robert C. Lehman, both remember Brackbill’s creative nests of wires and devices.

“Brackbill was known for rigging up many special effects,” says Horst.

“It wouldn’t pass a fire code now!” Ruby says.

Ever inventive, Brackbill also created an “Astra Guide” for his wife, a rotating chart which reveals what is visible in the Northern Hemisphere sky on a given date. The chart and Spitz A-1 are both on display in the Science Center foyer.

1955: Astral Hall

In 1955, the Astral Hall was built. The terraced one-room building next to the observatory hosted astronomy lectures and Astral Society meetings. (It eventually became the WEMC studios.) In 1956, Brackbill retired, and Lehman was hired to take his place on faculty and as planetarium director.

Notably, Brackbill published The Heavens Declare (Moody Bible Institude of Chicago) in 1959, a book of religious and philosophical musings, humor, and astronomy facts. (91����Ƶ’s Historical Library has a non-circulating copy.)

Spitz, his friend who created the star projector, wrote the introduction, naming Brackbill as “a quiet, unassuming individual, in a quiet, unassuming college, representing a quiet, unassuming faith, in a quiet, unassuming community. Yet his influence has spread throughout the years.”

After assuming directorship, Lehman used the Vesper Heights vantage point to sight the Soviet satellite Sputnik in 1957. With 11 students and faculty dressed in surplus navy coats against the cold, they took shifts looking into a row of monocular stations lined up along the north-south meridian. Their lenses were tilted at various angles to provide a certain altitude and longitude reading when the satellite came into view. EMC radioed in the second observational fix in the U.S., part of a large network of sightings used to establish Sputnik’s orbital track.

Lehman took two breaks from directing the planetarium to finish his master’s and doctoral degrees in biophysics at Penn State, during which John Hershey and John Horst acted as interim directors.

Brackbill Planetarium

In 1968, the Suter Science Center was completed. Lehman was a major contributor to the design, according to Horst.

The new building included the Brackbill Planetarium, which could seat 80 people, and a more accurate, spherical Spitz A-4 star projector. Tiny holes in the metal sheeting on the inner dome surface “gave you more of a starlight feel,” says Horst.

Lehman had many assistants – physics majors helped give presentations, his son Jim helped install equipment, and the D. Ralph Hostetter Natural History Museum helped attract patrons. In the 1980s, Marijke Kyler, a professor in the Literature and Language department, assisted with school group programs.

Joe Mast, “a very competent professional astronomer” according to Horst, took over the program in 1986, continuing to bring in thousands of children and adults to learn about the stars. In 2003, he installed a new 10-inch digital Meade telescope in the Vesper Heights observatory.

John Horst took over the planetarium in 2005 when Mast retired, adding “some meditative cosmic space music” which he performed on a synthesizer to welcome visitors before the presentations.

By 2007, the 40-year-old Spitz A-4 projector had mechanical problems that would have been costly to fix or replace. Besides, Horst was retiring, with no prospective astronomers on the faculty to continue the programming. The planetarium closed. Horst, Mast and Lehman gathered at a farewell reception to tell stories from their decades as Mennonite ambassadors to the heavens.

Discovery Room

The site of the former planetarium continued as a popular learning destination for thousands of school age children and other visitors. Professor Jim Yoder, director of the D. Ralph Hostetter Natural History Museum, proposed that the planetarium become a Discovery Room.

In 2008, the auditorium seating was replaced with carpet, tables and chairs; the star projector was lowered into storage, and fossils, rocks, animal skins and aquariums took center stage. On the platform over the top the star projector, a taxidermied Alaskan Kodiak bear roars, courtesy of head softball coach J.D. McCurdy.

Science center renovations beginning in 2015 required the natural history museum’s main room to be emptied. The Discovery Room became museum storage, and currently hold more than 2,800 specimens.

The space will be updated in the course of Suter West renovations, with the iconic dome and cylinder remaining.

Click here to learn more about the museum .

Robert C. Lehman, professor of physical science

Robert C. Lehman, 79, professor of physical science at 91����Ƶ from 1955 to 1980, died Feb. 2, 2009, at Rockingham Memorial Hospital. Four days earlier, his sister, Esther K. Lehman, 85, died at Oak Lea, Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community. She was professor emerita of education, having taught at 91����Ƶ from 1951 until 1982.

Dr. Lehman was born Mar. 22, 1929 in Harrisonburg and was the son of the late Chester K. (C.K.) and Myra Kendig Lehman.

Lehman taught astronomy and physics courses and was director of the M.T. Brackbill Planetarium, 1967-79, in the Suter Science Center.

On June 10, 1954, he married Ruby K. Swartzendruber, who survives. Also surviving are four children – Judith Ann, James Alan, Donald LeRoy and Douglas Chester Lehman – one sister, Dorothy L. Yoder, and four grandchildren, Allison, Eric, Brian and Michael Lehman.

Lehman spent a 1976-77 sabbatical year in designing and implementing and self-initiated projects and programs to raise the energy conservation consciousness-level on campus.

He installed a monitor in the Suter Science Center where anyone interested could see real-time graphing of the peaks and valleys of the college’s daily energy demands. Lehman’s study prompted the administration to repair steam lines that were losing heat in the winter, modify heating and cooling systems to be more efficient, change some lighting to use less electricity and invest more in energy-saving maintenance. The result was a $66,000 reduction in utility costs in a single year.

The 91����Ƶ board of trustees gave Lehman a “resolution of appreciation” for his energy conservation efforts. During his tenure, he also led continuing education classes and seminars on solar energy alternatives.

“Robert was always an innovative strategic thinker with basic competence in many areas,” said John L. Horst, professor emeritus of physics at 91����Ƶ. “In many ways he was my mentor.

“Robert was a good bass singer,” Horst noted. “He sang with the Park View Melodians as a high school and college student here. The group traveled widely during some summers.”

In 1970, Lehman was named president of Homes Foundation, a local non-profit group that developed housing for low- and moderate-income families. He was co-founder and first president of the Park View Federal Credit Union and was an amateur radio operator.

A 1950 91����Ƶ graduate, he earned a master’s degree in physics and a doctorate in biophysics from Penn State University.

He was a member of Park View Mennonite Church, where a memorial service will be held 3 p.m. Feb. 16.

Memorial contributions can be made to Mennonite Central Committee, Akron, Pa., and the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at 91����Ƶ.

“The Spectacular Winter Sky” comes out to play in upcoming public programs at the at 91����Ƶ.

The 40-minute program, produced by , acting planetarium director, will be presented 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8 and 22, Feb. 5 and 19 and Mar. 19.

“The cold, clear winter sky offers the brightest and most distinctive star constellations of the year,” Horst said. “This show will feature some stories, demonstrate daily and annual motion, explain why different stars are visible in different seasons and spotlight the planet Saturn, which is currently prominent in the night sky,” he noted.

The , with more than 6,000 items on display, will be open for browsing 2-3:30 p.m. in conjunction with the planetarium shows.

Admission to the planetarium and museum in 91����Ƶ’s Suter Science Center is free.

No, it’s a planet – in fact, two celestial bodies currently shining brightly in the night sky.

Earth’s next-door planetary neighbors, Venus and Mars, are the subject of the fall public program at the at 91����Ƶ.

“The planet Venus is currently prominent in the southwest sky at sunset,” said planetarium director John L. Horst. “As Venus slowly sets, Mars rises in the east.”

Planetarium shows are 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16 and 23 and Nov. 6 and 20.

The , next to the planetarium, with more than 6,000 artifacts and specimens on display, will be open for browsing 2-3:30 p.m. each time.

Admission to both attractions, in 91����Ƶ’s Suter Science Center, is free.

Church, school and civic groups can arrange planetarium programs and museum tours by calling 540-432-4400 for appointments.

How did astronomers discover galaxies? That question is probed in the newest public program at the at 91����Ƶ.

"Galaxies: Island Universes" will be presented 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 9, and repeated the same time Jan. 23, Feb. 6 and 20 and Mar. 20.

The program will explore the motion of galaxies, the different types of galaxies in the universe and how gravity holds individual galaxies together, according to planetarium director Joseph W. Mast.

The , adjacent to the planetarium, will be open for browsing 2-3:30 p.m. in conjuction with the planetarium shows. A fluorescent rock room, a 3,000-year-old mummy hand, a two-headed calf and Nile crocodile are among the more than 6,000 artifacts and specimens on display.

Admission to the planetarium and museum in 91����Ƶ’s Suter Science Center is free.