The David M. Brown Planetarium
The planetarium was named for Arlingtonian David M. Brown, an astronaut who died in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster
The planetarium has introduced Arlington's school children to science in innovative ways. Its programming remains popular and its architecture is the best example of neo-expressionism in the county.
Since its construction in the late 1960s, as space exploration captured many's imagination and man successfully reached the moon, the planetarium has introduced Arlington's schoolchildren to science. Its programming remains popular, and its architecture is the best example of neo-expressionism in the county.
The curving office building behind it embraces the free-standing domed concrete building, and together, these buildings project a sculptural quality evocative of the era in which they were erected. The planetarium was named for Arlingtonian David M. Brown, an astronaut who died in the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster.
The construction of the David M. Brown Planetarium fits within a larger national context of American planetariums. Following the launch of Sputnik in 1957, American politicians and critics blamed the nation’s public education system as one of the principal reasons that the country had fallen behind the Soviet Union in space technology. Astronomy and science became critical nationwide academic disciplines. Educational theorems of the time emphasized the importance of starting astronomy early in a child’s education, and planetariums were seen as the ideal place to practice the principles of the scientific method. This justified the construction of school planetariums throughout the nation in the 1960s. The subject planetarium is the only freestanding planetarium that remains in the National Capital Region.
In 2008, Arlington’s planetarium was named in honor of Captain David M. Brown, who was born and raised in Arlington County. He graduated from Yorktown High School in 1974 and later received a bachelor's degree of science from the College of William and Mary and a medical doctorate from Eastern Virginia Medical School. Captain Brown was a Navy aviator, flight surgeon, and NASA astronaut. He died along with the rest of his crew when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentry on February 1, 2003.
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