Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center

If you are arriving or departing from the Keahole Airport in Kona, or just passing through the area, a visit to the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center promises a unique and rewarding museum experience, especially for children or the child at heart. The Space Center is an educational facility dedicated to the memory of Hawaii's first astronaut, the late Col. Ellison Onizuka, who, with all crewmembers, perished aboard the Challenger as it launched into space on January 28, 1986.

'Interactive' is the key to this innovative museum. The Manned Maneuvering Unit replica tests your skills as you manipulate the hand controls to rendezvous with an object in space. Roll coins into the five-foot wide gravity well that illustrates orbital motion. Launch a miniature space shuttle, or log on to the space shuttle computer program that explains various system components on board.

Col. Onizuka was born and raised in the Keopu area of Kona, Hawaii. Always an achiever, he graduated from Konawaena High School and followed his dream of becoming an aerospace engineer. After college at the University of Colorado at Boulder, he joined the Air Force as a flight test engineer. In 1978 he was chosen from over 8,000 candidates as one of the final 35 astronaut recruits, and his first mission was in January 1985.

It is the goal of the Onizuka Space Center to perpetuate Ellison's inspirational legacy of education for Hawaiiís youngsters. The Center is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. There is a small admission fee.

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