My Business Plan: Infinity Science Center

There’s a saying that goes, “If you want to go to the moon, you’ve got to go through Mississippi first.”

Everyone has heard of Kennedy Space Center or Johnson Space Center, but very few know the historical significance of Stennis Space Center. In fact, not many people know that this place in Hancock County had a lot to do with sending the first crew to space by perfecting the shuttle engine of Saturn V, the rocket used for the moon landing missions.

The Infinity Science Center, a non-profit museum, not only hosts the Stennis Space Visitor Center but aims to educate its guests with this important piece of history and inspire them to explore the fields of space, earth science, and technology. 

Spurring a Sense of Wonder

We talked to Katie Lee from Infinity’s dedicated team, who shares that they aim to be more than just a museum. Since it was founded in 2001, Infinity seeks to be a place where science is fun, fascinating, and a quality experience for everyone who visits.

The Infinity Science Center in Pearlington, Mississippi

“My role as a graphic designer is to execute our goals in a visual way. I’m most passionate about ensuring that our signage and graphics flow right along with that mission and do their part in making our guests’ experience the best it can be!”

From museum galleries, bus tour rides to historic sites, live presentations, and unique citizen science programs—guests can explore our earth, oceans, and space through deepening levels of involvement.

Infinite Inspiration

Each year the museum welcomes an average of 65,000 visitors from various age groups and backgrounds, all with the innate sense of curiosity that Infinity Science Center embraces.

Tiny explorers enjoy the Little Learner’s Lab

From Robotics and Frog Dissection for students, to toddler science exploration labs, there’s always something for everyone—and that’s what makes the museum well-loved not just by Mississippi natives but guests from regions across the country.

The Saturn V Rocket

One of the most recent and largest additions to the center is one of the three stages of a Saturn V rocket, the same one that was used by NASA to land the first man on the moon.

 “We want guests to leave feeling truly inspired by the incredible activities and programs that we offer. By nurturing their curiosity, we could inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians!”

By nurturing their curiosity, we could inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians! - Katie from @Visit_INFINITY Click To Tweet

Support for Science

Every year, an Inaugural Fundraising Gala is hosted by the museum to raise money for expanding their education programs. During this event, attendees and sponsors learn more about life on the space exploration home front from prominent figures in the Apollo era.

 Mississippi-native and former Apollo astronaut, Fred Haise

Among these presenters is retired Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise, who also serves on the Infinity Science Center board of directors and is one of the biggest champions for tomorrow’s thinkers. Together with some of the region’s world-class research organizations, they work to solicit support for national commitments and basic scientific research.

 Infinity also works hand in hand with teachers and educational institutions to develop a stronger, scientifically literate K-12 curriculum.

Students learn how to code and manipulate robots

Challenges for The Center

Because they are a nonprofit, the Infinity Science Center staff makes the best out of a limited budget and equip themselves to play multiple roles. However, there are projects needing materials that require more time and effort for them to produce themselves.

“That’s when we begin the search for the best companies out there to complete our time-sensitive project, and that’s when we discovered PrintRunner! Finding a company that produces high quality, affordable products with a quick turnaround greatly helps us to overcome the challenges of our budget and time constraints!”

In the Life-Changing Business

With the help of PrintRunner, Katie designed and produced stickers that say “Honorary Infinity Astronaut” and “Certified Infinity Scientist” to give away during their Scouts in Space day and lab classes.

“The printing experience has been outstanding! Because of our limited non-profit budget, I researched to find the best deals and turnaround time for having our projects printed, and that’s what led me to Print Runner! We look forward to our next purchase!”

I researched to find the best deals and turnaround time for having our projects printed, and that’s what led me to Print Runner! Katie from @Visit_INFINITY Click To Tweet

Since then, the stickers have been popular among participating kids—and the waterproof option she chose helped just in case it gets a little wild in the underwater labs.

Print custom stickers today.

Infinity and Beyond

The team continues to encourage and inspire young minds to become tomorrow’s greatest thinkers. To Katie, this equally motivates her to do her best at work.

One amazed, young scientist during Frog Dissection Class

“We’ve heard countless stories of children attending one of our lab classes, whether it be a microbiology or dissection lab, and they leave knowing they want to become a veterinarian or a marine biologist! It’s exciting to see the life impact that a one-hour class at Infinity can have on a guest.”

Thanks to Infinity Science Center, Mississippi is not only bringing the nation to space but across the farthest reaches of the earth and extreme depths of the oceans.

Find out more by visiting Infinity’s website, Facebook, and Instagram.

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About the Author

Nermae De Asis
Nermae loves to travel and see the world--unless she's in Manila working as a writer. Despite starting in non-profit, she now works in design and marketing and spends her time illustrating, reading children's books, and looking up cat videos on the internet.