The Rose Center for Earth and Space is a part of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The Center's complete name is The Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space; the main entrance is located on the northern side of the museum on 81st Street near Central Park West in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Completed in 2000, it includes the new Hayden Planetarium, the original of, opened in 1935 and closed in 1997. Neil deGrasse Tyson is its first and, to date, only director; the center is an extensive reworking of the former Hayden Planetarium, whose first projector, dedicated in 1935, had 2 successors previous to the current one. The original Hayden Planetarium was founded in 1933 with a donation by philanthropist Charles Hayden. In 1935, the Hayden Planetarium, designed by architects Trowbridge & Livingston, after its construction was funded by a $650,000 loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and a $150,000 donation from banker Charles Hayden of Hayden, Stone & Co.

Its mission was to give the public "a more lively and sincere appreciation of the magnitude of the universe... and for the wonderful things which are daily occurring in the universe." Joseph M. Chamberlain, hired as an assistant curator in 1952, became Chairman of the Planetarium in 1956. In 1960, a Zeiss Mark IV projector was installed, followed by a Zeiss Mark VI projector and new seats in 1993. In January 1997, the original Hayden Planetarium was demolished. In August 1999, a new, customized Zeiss Mark IX projector was installed, accompanied by a digital dome projection system that provides a 3-D visualization of the universe based on images generated in real time by a Silicon Graphics supercomputer. On February 19, 2000, the $210 million Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space, containing the new Hayden Planetarium, opened to the public; the Rose Center is named after two members of the Rose family, was designed by James Polshek and Todd H. Schliemann of Polshek Partnership Architects with the exhibition design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates.

Tom Hanks provided the voice-over for the first planetarium show during the opening of the new Rose Center for Earth & Space in the Hayden Planetarium in 2000. Since such celebrities as Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Maya Angelou have been featured. Designed by Polshek and Todd Schliemann, the building consists of a six-story high glass cube enclosing the 87-foot illuminated Hayden Sphere, which appears to float, although it is supported by truss work. Polshek has referred to this work as a "cosmic cathedral"; the Rose Center and its adjacent plaza are both located on the north face of the Museum. Located in the facility is the Department of Astrophysics, the newest academic research department in the Museum. Furthermore, Polshek designed the 1,800-square-foot Weston Pavilion, a 43-foot high transparent structure of "water white" glass along the Museum's west facade; this structure, a small companion piece to the Rose Center, offers a new entry way to the Museum, as well as opening further exhibition space for astronomically-related objects.

The planetarium's original magazine, The Sky, merged with another journal, The Telescope, to become the leading astronomy magazine Sky & Telescope. The exhibits highlight human connection to the cosmos along with the scale and properties of the observable universe itself; when the new Rose Center opened with a model of only eight planets, excluding Pluto, thought of as the ninth planet, it resulted in a headline-making controversy. The Hayden Planetarium has, since 2000, been one of the two main attractions within the Rose Center, it was established by the State of New York in 1933, some of the funding coming from philanthropist Charles Hayden. The top half of the Hayden Sphere houses the Star Theater, which uses high-resolution fulldome video to project “space shows” based on scientific visualization of current astrophysical data, in addition to a customized Zeiss Star Projector system replicating an accurate night sky as seen from Earth; the Big Bang Theater, which occupies the bottom half of the Hayden Sphere, depicts the birth of the universe in a four-minute program.

Utilizing a screen that measures 36 feet in diameter over an 8-foot-deep bowl, a four-minute program depicts the birth of the universe, with narration by Liam Neeson. The Big Bang Theater serves as an introduction to the Heilbrun Cosmic Pathway, a spiral which wraps around the sphere, connecting the second and first floors of the Rose Center; the cosmic pathway provides a timeline of the universe's history from the Big Bang to the present day. The Heilbrun Cosmic Pathway is one of the most popular exhibits in the Rose Center, which opened February 19, 2000; the Hayden Planetarium offers a number of courses and public presentations including the Frontiers of Astrophysics and Distinguished Authors lecture series. The Ross Terrace adjacent to the Rose Center for Earth and Space, built over the new parking garage on 81st Street; this rooftop plaza is designed to be a stage set that celebrates both astronomy and Earth’s natural history, as well as an outdoor gathering place for museum visitors. Renowned garden designer Kathryn Gustafson formed the concept for the Terrace after seeing an illustration of shadows cast by a lunar eclipse.

A terrace covering 47,114 square feet was designed by Charles Morris Anderson as a Landscape Architect, his design was awarded the American Society of Landscape Architects Design award in 2003. As of 2

The North American Vexillological Association is a membership organization devoted to vexillology, the scientific and scholarly study of flags. It was founded in 1967 by American vexillologist Whitney Smith, others, its membership of 500+ comprises flag scholars, collectors, educators, manufacturers and hobbyists. NAVA publishes Raven: A Journal of Vexillology, an annual peer-reviewed journal and Vexillum, a quarterly magazine, they cover vexillological topics and inter-disciplinary discussion as well as the Association's proceedings and other vexillological news. NAVA honors achievement in the field with several honors and awards: Whitney Smith Fellows: an individual who makes an outstanding contribution to North American vexillology may be elected to this honor by the association's executive board. An honoree is entitled to use the postnominals "WSF", it is restricted to persons who are not past presidents of the association. NAVA is the largest vexillological organization in the world and a charter member of the International Federation of Vexillological Associations.

President: Peter Ansoff First Vice President: Steven A. Knowlton Second Vice President: Stanley Contrades Secretary: Ted Kaye Treasurer: Jim Ferrigan Editor, Raven: A Journal of Vexillology: Scott Mainwaring Editor, Vexillum: Steven A. Knowlton The association's flag consists of a large white "V" separating a blue triangle above from two red triangles on either side; the length of the top side of the blue triangle is the same as the width of the flag. The flag proportion is 2:3; the "V" represents vexillology. The colors are taken from the flags of the two countries covered by the association: Canada and the United States. Since 1967, the association has held annual meetings across the United States and Canada for all those interested in flags to present and discuss research and to honor vexillological achievement. Since 1977, it has marked each meeting with a distinctive flag. American City Flags, a book published by the association. NAVA website

María Concepción "Conchita" Dapena Quiñones was the wife of former Governor of Puerto Rico Roberto Sánchez Vilella and served as First Lady from 1965 until their divorce in 1967. Dapena was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1913, she married Roberto Sánchez Vilella in a Catholic wedding ceremony in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on July 10, 1936. Dapena became First Lady of Puerto Rico on January 2, 1965, when Sánchez Vilella was inaugurated as Governor of Puerto Rico. In March 1967, an affair between Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella and his 35-year old legislative aide, Jeannette Ramos Buonono, became public in a major political scandal. Once the scandal broke, Governor Sánchez Vilella announced that he would seek a divorce from First Lady Conchita Dapena, ending their 31-year marriage, in order to marry Ramos. Just two days after the divorce between Dapena and Sánchez Vilella was finalized, the Governor married Jeannette Ramos in a civil ceremony in October 1967. Sánchez Vilella's affair and divorce from First Lady Conchita Dapena is credited with ending his political career.

He announced. Dapena died on February 25, 2003, at the age of 90, she was buried on Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in Old San Juan. List of Puerto Ricans