By SALINA POST
The Salina Art Center Cinema has a deal that's out of this world...and it's free!
Today at 5:30 p.m., you can watch a free screening of First Man, a look at the life of United States astronaut Neil Armstrong, starring Ryan Gosling. The cinema will even throw in some free popcorn!
The Salina Art Center Cinema is located at 150 S. Santa Fe Avenue.
The screening is a part of the Science on Screen initiative to promote scientific literacy through entertainment, inspiring audiences and increased appreciation for STEM topics—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, according to Misty Serene, executive director of the Salina Art Center.
Following the film, one of Salina's own astronauts, Mark “Forger” Stucky, is scheduled to discuss commercial space travel via Zoom, Serene noted.
You can watch the Zoom presentation at the cinema. You also can register for the free Zoom presentation and watch it on a personal device. The Zoom presentation is scheduled to begin at 7:55 p.m. Tuesday.
To register for the Zoom presentation, click here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIudu2oqjMoHtRe-aQgQbY2i5oAozCGdXe3
You do not need to register if you plan to watch the Zoom discussion at the cinema.
About Mark 'Forger' Stucky
Stucky, a 1976 graduate of Salina South High School, made history on Dec. 13, 2018, when he and fellow test pilot C.J. Sturckow rode Virgin Galactic's tourism spaceship more than 50 miles above California’s Mojave Desert, according to an Associated Press report in Salina Post. The flight was a step toward Virgin Galactic's plan to turn the dream of commercial space tourism into reality.
Because the flight made it into space, the two pilots were awarded commercial astronaut wings, according to a Federal Aviation Administration official. Virgin Galactic considered 50 miles (80 kilometers) the boundary of space because that is the distance used by the U.S. Air Force and other U.S. agencies, the Associated Press reported.
Salina's other astronaut is former NASA astronaut Steven Hawley, a 1969 graduate of what is now Salina Central High School.