“Open Stacks: Eyes on the Skies” Photo Gallery

Open Stacks: Eyes on the Skies participants

by Sarah Bender

On Wednesday, Oct. 7, the Posner Center for Special Collections hosted its first Open Stacks event of the year. “Eyes on the Skies” celebrated humanity’s fascination with space, welcoming astronaut and Carnegie Mellon professor emeritus Jay Apt to give a talk titled “Spacewalking and What’s It Like Up There,” a firsthand look at living and working in space.

Apt outlined his journey to becoming an astronaut in the 1980s, including parachute training and water tank training, then shared details and photos from his time in space. He talked about seeing typhoons, dust storms, volcanoes, and the aurora from orbit, the work he did with his crewmates, and more. The audience had a chance to ask questions toward the end of his talk, prompting Apt to share more about the photography equipment used by astronauts, and offer advice to students dreaming of going into space today.

Rare books from Special Collections that traced the enduring effort to make sense of space were also on view. Selections were curated by the CMU Astronomy Club, and included a first edition of “Dialogo (Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems)” by Galileo, “Astronomiae cometicae synopsis (A Synopsis of the Astronomy of Comets)” by Edmond Halley, and Hevelius’s breathtaking lunar atlas “Selenographia.”

The afternoon’s activity was provided by BXA senior Madelyn Streisfeld and College of Fine Arts sophomore Alabaster Richard, the dramaturg and assistant dramaturg for the School of Drama’s dystopian psychological thriller “X.” Inspired by the play, attendees were asked to make a watercolor painting to represent something meaningful from Earth they would take with them into space. The paintings were then added to a memory capsule.

Open Stacks is a series of pop-up exhibitions and public programs that bring rare books, manuscripts, and early technologies out of the vault and into view. Each event offers a thematically focused look at objects from Carnegie Mellon’s Special Collections and invites conversations about the materiality, histories, and futures of science, technology, literature, and the book. “Bodies of Horror,” the next Open Stacks event, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 28 from 4:30–6:30 p.m. in the Posner Center. Visitors will explore rare books that have terrified, fascinated, and unsettled readers for centuries — from prophecy and witchcraft to anatomical curiosities, macabre woodcuts, and visions of the grotesque — curated by the Posner Center’s student workers.

Attendees who arrived early took some time to examine the rare books on display before finding their seats.
Attendees who arrived early took some time to examine the rare books on display before finding their seats.
School of Drama students Madelyn Streisfeld and Alabaster Richard brought a time capsule for guests to add their watercolor paintings.
School of Drama students Madelyn Streisfeld and Alabaster Richard brought a time capsule for guests to add their watercolor paintings.

Richard and Streisfeld work on watercolor paintings of their own.
Richard and Streisfeld work on watercolor paintings of their own.
Curator of Special Collections and Posner Center Director Sam Lemley shares details about the rare books on display.
Curator of Special Collections and Posner Center Director Sam Lemley shares details about the rare books on display.

Ryan Zhang, a junior BSA student studying physics and piano performance and the president of the Astronomy Club, welcomed attendees and introduced speaker Jay Apt.
Ryan Zhang, a junior BSA student studying physics and piano performance and the president of the Astronomy Club, welcomed attendees and introduced speaker Jay Apt.
Apt discussed his background, some of the research he conducted, and his impressions of an experience only a few hundred people have experienced.
Apt discussed his background, some of the research he conducted, and his impressions of an experience only a few hundred people have experienced.

Many of the photos in the presentation included shots of Apt and other astronauts who joined him in space on one of his four shuttle missions.
Many of the photos in the presentation included shots of Apt and other astronauts who joined him in space on one of his four shuttle missions.
After Apt concluded his talk, attendees had one more chance to explore items from Special Collections with Lemley and Special Collections Coordinator Catherine Blauvelt.
After Apt concluded his talk, attendees had one more chance to explore items from Special Collections with Lemley and Special Collections Coordinator Catherine Blauvelt.

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