Current Status:
Secember 9th 2007- Applied for the Duke Energy leadership grant
December 7th 2007- We are planning to visit Wren again next month to do a class with the Kindergarten and 2nd grade students.
November 15th-16 2007- The science center hosted an astronomy show for the Wren Elementary 1st grade. A special thanks to Miss Susan Gurley for helping us organize the visit. The kids had a great time viewing the moon and took tours of the science trailer the following day. Some of the pictures from the event can be seen at:
http://public.fotki.com/Mercury7/mercury7_science/science-show-wes/
October31st 2007- MSC fiscal year ends, this marks a great year for donations and support, thank you to every one who has helped support the center
September 1st 2007- The Science center aquired a yamaha generator to power all of the exhibits, We also finished up many of the exhibits and are ready for the 2007-08 school year.
May 20th 2007 -The Science center presents the first Outstanding Achievement Award to Wren Elementary school. Congratulations to Jaime Hintson for Hi-score combined math and science for the 2006-2007 school year. The science center will be expanding this program to multiple schools during the 2007-2008 school year.
May 17th 2007- A special thanks goes out to John Raburn of Texas for sponsoring our organization with a wide format printer to help us make our exhibits.< xml="true" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" prefix="o" namespace="">
May 2nd 2007: Thanks to turbomongoose models we now have a complete set of huge launch vehicle on the way for the kids to enjoy, these rockets are over 3ft tall and include the Mercury redstone, the Apollo saturn V , The Gemini Titan and the New moon ships being built now, the Ares 1 and Ares V.
May 1st, 2007 : The first 4 months of 2007 has been a very busy time for the science center, Along with the smithsonian we can now welcome Nasa on board, they are providing us with some great artifacts to display including a shuttle flight suit that has been on eight missions and some insulation tiles from the shuttle. They are also sending some photo opportunity cutouts for the kids to have there picture made. Additionally we have been sponsored by Space Flori, A german company that deals in space artifacts, they have provided part of the heat shield from the gemini capsule, parachute cord from apollo 7 and some insulation from space shuttle Atlantis. We have also been sponsored by the dark sky association, Teresa has built us a really nice exhibit demonstrating the effects of light pollution, we know the kids will love this. The staff of the Hubble space telescope are building us a model and have provided a wealth of posters and photographs for us to use. We have received multiple donations from the ebay community also, including plaques, rare space coins, space related toys and books for the kids to enjoy.
January 29,2007 : We received a .60 gram NWA 869 chondrite for our meteorite display from McomeMeteorite in Italy, We would like to thank Matteo for such a great donation
January 11, 2007, We would like to thank ILC Dover, The makers of Nasa Spacesuits for their recent support and contribution for the astronaut exhibit. Also today we received a donation from the World of Energy for our Power exhibits.
December 31st,2006, Work continues on the exhibit platform and we have received donations for a Meteorite exhibit. We also have received word that Blickman industries is going to provide us with a really nice entry way with hand rails for the children to enter and exit the exhibit trailer. We filed our form 990 with the IRS and SC secretary of state on December 28th , 2006
November 12th, 2006, The Smithsonian Institute becomes our latest sponsor, They have helped us obtain exhibits for our life sciences exhibit showing how astronauts live and work in space. They have provide us with authentic food packs used during the Apollo program in the late 60's ,early 70's. A special thanks to the staff at the Smithsonian for your support and inspiration.
October 31st, 2006, October ends our fiscal year for 2006, It was a busy month, after careful consideration and review, our board decided to move our science exhibits into a trailer platform versus bus. This will allow us to use donated funds for direct purchase of future exhibits and materials for the students. The bus concept had high yearly operating cost and so we are happy to have made a smart decision to ensure the centers success. We have selected a 24ft classic airstream as our first trailer and we are polishing it up and getting the exhibits installed.
September 17th, 2006, Columbia Insurance has been selected as our insurance carrier for the exhibit bus, we received our binding over the weekend.
September 15th, 2006, We are pleased to announce the purchase of a 50 ft MAN deisel to serve as our mobile exhibit bus. The bus is currently parked on hwy 101 in Greer sc temporarily until we find a more suitable place in the Wren area. We would like to give a special thanks to Bruce's Auction group and Rv's4less for helping us.
Also we would like to announce Celestron telescope company as our latest sponsor. They have donated a computerized telescope for us to use in our astronomy exhibit.
September 1st , lots of updates coming, I have been putting off updating this page for the last few weeks because we are still in the process of closing the deal on our new bus, hopefully I will be updating in about a week with all the latest developments
August 2,2006 Guidestar.org officially list the Mercury7 Science Center as a verified 501(c)(3) expanding our outreach for corporate support. a special thanks to Susan Belmonte and Sharon of guidestar for helping us with this.
August 1,2006 Hometheaterforum.com becomes official sponsor, they have added links to the science center on ever page, a special thanks to Ron and Parker.
July 27,2006 Received notice from the Furman group of intent to donate computers to the science center.
July 25,2006 a recruiter from itt tech volunteers to help us find our bus and build exhibits( thankyou steve)
July 17th 2006: Wabam Graphics becomes Sponsor
July 15 2006: Added first public statements of our existance to local online classifieds, oodle,craigslist
June 18th,2006 Received funds from the Duke Energy foundation, search for our new bus begins.
June 15th,2006 Received registration statement from Secretary of State to solicit for funding til July 2007
May 26th, 2006: Solicitation for funds continues, aquired several new telescopes and have begun building several exhibits for the mobile center. We are still trying to raise enough money to purchase an rv and generator and have been offered an rv by rvs4less.com at their cost.
March, 2006, Certified by missionfish for fundraising on ebay
February 2006 Fotki.com becomes official Sponsor.
January 1st, 2006: Made Mock up of the mobile science exhibit as an illustration of phase one to help raise funds.
December 27th, 2005: Met with with Greenville city council member Michelle Shain to discuss the science center and received advice on fundraising and advisory board selection. a special thanks to Michelle for her valuable experience.
December 15th, 2005: Fotki.com becomes official sponsor of the Mercury7 Science Center
November 5th, 2005: Notified by I.R.S. that the Mercury7 Science Center Inc. has met the requirements of federal tax exemption and is now classified as a 501(c)(3) public Charity. All donations to the Mercury7 Science Center are now tax deductible.
April 2005: Notified by IRS that all application data has been entered,
Notification of acceptance as tax exempt organization expect within three months
February 2005: ByLaws completed, Irs form 1023 completed, building fundraising commenced
November 7th 2004: Articles of Incorporation received from the Secretary of State, Certificate of incorporation posted to website, EIN Federal Number applied for and received.
Currently working on Irs form 1023 for federal exemption ruling
October 26 2004 : Mercury7 Science Center becomes a legal non-profit organization as recognized by the State of South Carolina
October 17th2004: Updated corporate sponsorship page to include the Mercury7 Virtual art gallery, an interactive Art Gallery featuring over 40 state of the Art plasma screens dedicated to the masters of the
art world as well as local talent and unknown artist from around the world.
October 5th 2004: Added the Mercury7 store to sell t-shirts and merchandise to help raise money for the building fund.
September 17 2004: Updated mission statement, working on articles of incorporation and bylaws
August 30th 2004, added white papers for Corporate Sponsorship and Science center programs
August 27, 2004 added letter to be sent out for center endorsements
August 20, 2004 White papers for Building Guidelines added
Aug 14, 2004, Creating white papers for corporate and school district sponsors
and searching for appropriate land to meet our needs in proximity to interstate I-85 When the white papers are completed they will be posted here at Mercury7.com
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on the link on your left. It is people like you that
has made this project possible.thank you for
