SD-Base: 4 X 3 HD-Upconverted (4:3) where available
Program DVD’s are in the Mail
Dear
colleague:
I am
pleased to announce the PBS premiere of The Journey to Palomar, the story of American
individualist George Ellery Hale, who led America’s first journey into space
via the largest telescopes of the 20th century. Before we went
to the Moon, Hale took us to the stars and laid the foundation for 20th
and 21st century astronomical marvels. Look for the PBS/NPS feed of
this intriguing story on November 10, 2008, 10-11:30 pm ET.
The Journey to Palomar, the result of more
than five years’ work by Los Angeles
filmmakers Todd and Robin Mason, traces Hale’s uniquely American story
(1868-1938). Viewers watch Hale, considered the father of astrophysics,
as he strives both personally and professionally to build first the great
telescopes at Chicago’s Yerkes and Mount Wilson Observatories and next the
million-pound telescope on Palomar Mountain (near San Diego).
The
documentary includes rare archival materials and interviews with America’s
top historians, scientists and authors. Hale’s observatories both
revolutionized our understanding of the universe and were at the forefront of America’s
growing pre-eminence in science and technology. Indeed Hale’s
observatories enabled Edwin Hubble’s 1929 discovery of the expansion of the
universe. A dedicated scientist, inventor and entrepreneur, Hale believed America
offered the best platform upon which to investigate and develop scientific
truth. He successfully engaged the nation’s leaders in business, science and
politics to support his vision.
Hale’s
energetic promotion of American science, however, came at a high personal cost.
He struggled, for example, to overcome “Neurasthenia,” a nervous condition,
brought on by overwork. His fragile constitution was no match for his “Chicago ambition,” as historian
Kevin Starr says, and Hale suffered a series of collapses, including
frightening hallucinations. As author Richard Preston describes in The Journey to Palomar,
“Hale’s mental problems are very much a part of his creative genius, his
brilliance.”
The Journey to Palomar
unfolds like a three-act drama that follows Hale’s accomplished but difficult
life and the achievements that continued in his name even after his
death. The film depicts people from all levels of America working toward
discovering the larger truth of the universe—everyone from glass workers in
Corning, New York, to geniuses like Albert Einstein and Edwin Hubble to
American “captains of industry” like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller Jr.
and Chicago streetcar baron Charles Yerkes. While sadly, Hale didn’t live
to see the completion of his greatest masterpiece, the Palomar Mountain
telescope, he succeeded in creating an “American science.”
Extensive
promotion and outreach accompanies The Journey to Palomar:
· A
comprehensive teachers’ guide will be available for free download on the PBS promo page at www.pbs.org in November 2008.
· A
nationwide live NASA student Web cast on October 8, 2008, featuring America’s top astronomers previewing the next generation of giant American telescopes. Information is available at www.journeytopalomar.org.
· Print: Sky & Telescope Magazine, early November release.
500,000 subscribers. Major story on Hale’s Palomar telescope.
· Astronomy groups & science centers: There are over a hundred astronomy groups and science centers around the country that will be promoting the broadcast to members and to the public.
The Journey to Palomar was inspired by author
Ronald Florence’s 1994 book The Perfect
Machine.
The Journey to Palomar
is produced by Mason Productions, Inc. Producers are Todd and Robin Mason. It
is underwritten by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Local underwriting
is permitted. The series is
distributed by PBS/NPS.
Please contact me if you have
questions. A fact sheet follows.
Program
Summary:
Before
we went to the Moon, George Ellery Hale took us to the stars. This is his story
and that of America’s
first journey into
space.
Length:
90 minutes
Rights:
Broadcast: 6 Releases/4 Years
Video:
SD
3x4
HD-Upconverted
(4:3) where available
NOLA Code:
JOUP
PBS/Feed:
Monday
November 10, 2008, 10-11:30 pm ET
Distinguished On-Camera Participants:
•
Dr. Richard Ellis, director emeritus of the optical observatories of the California Institute of Technology.
• Dr.
Wendy Freedman, director of the observatories of the Carnegie Institution of
Washington.
•
Dr. Ronald Florence, author of The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar
Telescope.
•
Dr. Richard Preston, journalist and author of numerous best-selling books, including
First Light, about the achievements at Palomar in the 1970s and 80s.
•
Dr. Robert Brucato, assistant director emeritus, Palomar Observatory.
•
Dr. Kevin Starr, author, professor of history at the University of Southern
California and California State Librarian Emeritus. Dr. Starr was also a
daily columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and has been a contributing
editor to the Los Angeles Times since 1994.
•
Dr. David DeVorkin, curator, History of Astronomy, Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum.
•
Dr. Donald Miller, author of City of the Century (which became an AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE film in 2003) and professor of history at Lafayette College in
Easton, Pennsylvania.
Audio/Visual:
Producer:
Mason Productions, Inc.
Producers are Todd and Robin
Mason
Award:
Top
Honors at the 2007 Temecula
Valley Film & Music
Festival
(Winning
the Audience Choice award for best documentary).
Distributor:
Underwriter:
The Richard H. Driehaus
Foundation
Local Underwriting:
Local underwriting is permitted.
Companion DVD:
The
documentary will be available from PBS Home Video on November 10th. It includes
three exclusive special features on Americas next generation of giant
telescopes: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, The Carnegie Observatories Giant
Magellan Telescope and Caltechs Thirty-Meter Telescope, all descendants of
Hales telescopes depicted in The Journey to
Palomar.
Screenings: · October
8-11—San Francisco Bay Area: Chabot Planetarium public/press screening.
· October
17—Chicago:
Public/press screening at Adler Planetarium.
· October
20—Chicago - University of Chicago/press
screening at Gene Siskel Theater.
· October
25—Philadelphia:
Public/press Screening at the Franklin Institute with noted national
personality/astronomer Derrick Pitts.
· October
27—Los Angeles:
Public/press screening at the new Griffith Observatory with Caltech astronomy
Director emeritus, Dr. Richard Ellis.
· November
1 - San Diego: Fleet Science
Center public/press
screening.
· November
2—Palomar Observatory (just north of San
Diego): Public/press/Caltech VIPs screening inside
Palomar main dome.
- Before we went to the Moon, George Ellery Hale took us to
the stars. This is his story and that of America’s first journey into space.
-
Regina Eisenberg 
