The Search for Life in the Universe

Release Date: 7/23/2001. Expired: 8/25/2001

People have been searching for life beyond our planet Earth for centuries. There’s probably not many of us who haven’t looked up at the star-filled sky at one time or another and wondered about the possibility of other worlds and beings. Join the CyberSphere staff at The Renaissance Center Fridays and Saturdays in August in a search for life beyond planet Earth in The Search for Life in the Universe. Tickets for this newest planetarium show are $5 adults, $3 seniors and children under 13.

Narrator Leonard Nimoy, known for his portrayal of Vulcan Science Officer Spock on the original Star Trek series, takes audiences on a fascinating journey from the realm of the mysterious to the realm of reality. Eavesdrop on signals from space, delve into emerging solar systems and learn how scientists and amateur astronomers explain mysterious cosmic phenomena.

“Statistics show about 80% of people believe in life beyond our planet,” stated Stacey Currens, director of the CyberSphere at The Renaissance Center. “This show is about future endeavors, what’s been done in the past and what’s being done presently to search for life in outer space. This show is great for everyone from about 4th grade up because almost all of us have seen something in the sky and didn’t know what it was or where it was coming from. And we are curious about these things.”

The CyberSphere staff has spent hundreds of hours reviewing, reprogramming and producing effects for the show. Having put in some 200 hours of his own time is Joe Wyatt who has been volunteering his time as a Renaissance Ambassador for several months. Wyatt is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army who lives in Dickson with his wife.

“I first came to The Renaissance Center in January to see SkyWatchers,” states Wyatt. “I became interested in the CyberSphere at that time and picked up a Program Guide before I left. That’s when I found out about the Ambassador program and signed up. I started volunteering by taking tickets to the CyberSphere shows and helping seat people.”

Wyatt’s interest in the CyberSphere did not go unnoticed by the other staff and he was offered a two-week training boot camp to learn how to operate the equipment. He filled in many hours helping to run scheduled programs. During this time, he gained enough knowledge about the computer systems that when the opportunity came for him to help put a show together, he quickly accepted the offer.

Along with Currens, Ron Stinson, assistant programmer, and Terry Wilson, chief animator, the foursome set about reviewing the script, slides and laser videodisk for The Search for Life in the Universe. Original animation was created, laser graphics were added and additional slides were incorporated. The result is an informative and visually appealing planetarium show that provokes and stimulates the audience on an intellectual level as well as on an entertaining level.

“I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I see my name in the credits,” continued Wyatt. “I am in such awe of what we can do here and I wanted to be a part of it. I love working with computers and here I have VHS, DVD, 14,000 digital peak watts, 20 slide projectors, and a white light laser capable of over one trillion colors to play with. To get close to something like this is a privilege and I am appreciative of it.

“We can give audiences here what they can’t get at an IMAX. And we hear the same question over and over at the end of our shows: ‘Why in Dickson?’ And I tell them that Dickson is the perfect place for The Renaissance Center. It gives people who normally would not have access to something like this the opportunity to experience it. Coming here is truly a unique experience.”

Currens is now one of only three people in the world qualified for Omniscan software to produce laser shows in-house. Currently in production are two new laser shows that will be available to audiences later this year and a new planetarium show for which work has already begun.

The Search for Life in the Universe is scheduled in August every Friday at 7 p.m. and every Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. For tickets, program schedules, information about the Ambassador Program or other events at The Renaissance Center, call (615)740-5600. The Renaissance Center is a not-for-profit arts and technology center at 855 Highway 46 South in Dickson, just two miles north of Interstate 40 at exit 172.

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