The Real $3 Million ‘Overhead Projector’
When people hear the words “overhead projector”, your first thought is the little glowing box, that your teachers used in grade school, which had the mirror and lens mounted above it. In the US presidential debate that took place earlier this week, Republican candidate, John McCain, tried to attack Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, by saying, “[Obama] voted for nearly a billion dollars in pork barrel earmark projects, including, by the way, $3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Illinois.” The Adler Planetarium was the facility that requested the funds. But it was to replace their obsolete 40 year old Carl Zeiss Mark VI star projector with a new Zeiss Universarium Model IX projector, not an overhead projector. The new unit cost $3.5 million and is the top of the line when it comes to planetarium projectors. The model uses fiber optic technology to display millions of stars in color and motion. The Universarium projector is also able to display a variety of other projections including, planets, constellation figures, galactic coordinates, comets, shooting stars, celestial poles, and many others. The Adler Planetarium released this press release shortly after the debate: “To clarify, the Adler Planetarium requested federal support - which was not funded - to replace the projector in its historic Sky Theater, the first planetarium theater in the Western Hemisphere. The Adler’s Zeiss Mark VI projector - not an overhead projector - is the instrument that re-creates the night sky in a dome theater, the quintessential planetarium experience. The Adler’s projector is nearly 40 years old and is no longer supported with parts or service by the manufacturer. It is only the second planetarium projector in the Adler’s 78 years of operation.”
[via Gear Log]
