Steve at the Cradle Of Aviation Museum on
Long Island, next to the Apollo 18 Lunar Lander.
So who is this "Look to the Skies Guy" who has been looking through a telescope for the last 51 years?
Steve Russo, (known as "The Planetarium Guy"), is the Director of the East Kentucky Science Center and Planetarium at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. He has 38 years of teaching experience in the subject area of Astronomy and Space Science. Studying Astronomy and Meteorology since he was five years old, his first "formal" Astronomy education was at the age of 14, back in the late 1960's, when he took Astronomy classes at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. He holds a B. A. from Wagner College in Staten Island, and an M.S. from SUNY Oswego.
Since that time, Steve has taught in Planetariums and science centers both in New York and Florida, and now in Kentucky. He acted as a reviewer of space science materials for the teacher center at the Kennedy Space Center, and was one of two people who started the petitions to name the first Space Shuttle after the legendary "Enterprise", the ship from the Star Trek television series.
He also spent 14 years as a broadcast Meteorologist on TV and Radio in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.
Before going to Kentucky, Steve spent 8 years as the Planetarium Manager of the Schenectady Museum and Suits-Bueche Planetsrium in Schenectady, NY.
Steve and his wife Jan were actually married in The Bishop Planetarium, in Bradenton Florida, and they have a 31 year old son, Clayton. They are big supporters of Minor League Baseball, and helped raise 1.5 million dollars for a new "Single A" stadium for the Houston Astros in Auburn, New York, where they lived for 14 years. The Auburn Doubledays honored the Russo's with a plaque for their support of Auburn Baseball, and a few days before he moved to Long Island in 1998, the Doubledays won the New York Penn League Championship, and Steve and his wife received championship rings. Steve and Jan are "die-hard" football fans, and root for the Buffalo Bills, New York's only NFL Team. Their other main hobby is researching old Howard Johnson's restaurants.
Steve, was born and raised in Brooklyn, and Jan was born and raised in
Georgia. They reside in Prestonsburg, KY, about two hours east of
Lexington.