Item No.
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
BY: BENJAMIN DICKOW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
COLUMBIA MEMORIAL SPACE CENTER
DATE: AUGUST 12, 2025
SUBJECT: RATIFICATION OF CONTRACT WITH CHALLENGER CENTER FOR SPACE
SCIENCE EDUCATION TO UPGRADE THE CHALLENGER LEARNING
CENTER AT THE COLUMBIA MEMORIAL SPACE CENTER
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council will consider ratifying the City Manager’s preapproval of a contractor services agreement with Challenger Center for Space Science Education (Challenger Center) for the upgrade of the Challenger Learning Center at the Columbia Memorial Space Center. The project is part of the Space Center’s strategic goals. In order to take advantage of a sudden date opening on the construction calendar that would allow the Space Center’s Challenger Learning Center to be open for students to use during the 2025-2026 school year, City staff contracted with Challenger Center, the only organization authorized to do the work, in July 2025 to ensure the City did not miss ot on the opportunity. The contract was awarded under the urgency provisions of the City’s Purchasing Policy and Procedures in an effort to allow the upgrade of the Space Center’s Challenger Learning Center to take place this Fall and avoid missing out on offering the Challenger Learning Center mission experiences to local field trip students this school year.
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council:
1.Ratify the City Manager’s execution of the contractor services agreement with Challenger Center for Space Science Education in the amount of $108,217 for the upgrade of the Challenger Learning Center at the Columbia Memorial Space Center; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all amendments to the agreement in a form acceptable by the City Attorney.
CONTRACTOR SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH CHALLENGER CENTER FOR SPACE SCIENCE
EDUCATION FOR UPGRADE OF CHALLENGER LEARNING CENTER AT THE COLUMBIA MEMORIAL
SPACE CENTER
AUGUST 12, 2025
PAGE 2
2 BACKGROUND
The Columbia Memorial Space Center has hosted the only Challenger Learning Center experience in Southern California since 2010, shortly after opening the Downey facility.
One of less than 40 Challenger Learning Centers around the world, the Space Center operates the Challenger Center missions under a license agreement with Challenger Center for Space Science Education, aka “Challenger Center,” which has the sole authority to upgrade and significantly change the learning environments and programs offered within the Challenger Learning Center. Since opening, the Space Center has offered the Mission to Mars and Mission to the Moon experiences to students with very little change. In the intervening 15 years, the equipment and layout of the Challenger Learning Center’s two immersive environments, Mission Control and Spacecraft, have become outdated. The Mission Control layout, in particular, is anchored by bulky work stations that have become worn and chipped over time while no longer reflecting current NASA’s design and workflow. Additionally, the Space Center’s current Challenger Learning Center programs still rely on the originally-installed computers and software, causing frequent crashes and other issues that impede Space Center staff from effectively and efficiently providing Challenger missions to students.
The Space Center was recently informed by Challenger Center that it was eligible for a much-needed technology and equipment upgrade as part of a partnership with the aerospace company Blue Origin. Challenger Center would be able to help defray some of the cost of the renovation of the Space Center’s Challenger Learning Center. With this news and the continuing issues with the equipment, Space Center staff decided to close the Challenger Learning Center to reservations until upgrades could be made.
The Space Center is subject to the availability of the Challenger Center team to schedule the upgrade work. In July, an opening in the construction schedule became available that would allow the renovation work to be completed in Fall 2025, enabling the Space Center to resume offering the upgraded Challenger Learning Center experience to school groups in the second semester of the 2025-2026 school year. Securing this timeslot, however, required signing a service agreement with Challenger Center immediately. As a result, a contract was awarded to Challenger Center for Space Science Education for the upgrade of Downey’s Challenger Learning Center under the City’s emergency purchase provisions. As required by the Purchasing Policy and Procedures, staff is returning to City Council at the first opportunity to notify the Council and seek its ratification of the contract.
AN ALYSIS
As part of the license agreement with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education to host a Challenger Learning Center in Downey, Challenger Center is authorized to make significant changes or upgrades to the facility at the Columbia Memorial Space Center.
CONTRACTOR SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH CHALLENGER CENTER FOR SPACE SCIENCE
EDUCATION FOR UPGRADE OF CHALLENGER LEARNING CENTER AT THE COLUMBIA MEMORIAL
SPACE CENTER
AUGUST 12, 2025
PAGE 3
3 Space Center staff has been working with Challenger Center staff to determine the scope of the project and approximate construction timeline. Upgrades will include:
• Construction and installation of new Mission Control consoles • Installation of new computers, monitors and related hardware in Mission Control and Spacecraft
• Installation of updated mission software
• Addition of updated graphics
In anticipation of the upcoming renovations and due to the continued deterioration of the current equipment, the Space Center recently closed the Challenger Learning Center until the upgraded experience could be completed. In order to reopen the Space Center’s Challenger Learning Center as quickly as possible for school groups, a contract was awarded to Challenger Center for Space Science Education for the upgrade of Downey’s Challenger Learning Center with work to begin in Fall 2025 and be completed in December 2025.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Fiscal Responsibility
Quality of Life, Safety & Infrastructure
Public Engagement
FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of the recommended actions will result in an expenditure of up to $108,217 from City budgeted funds, with $70,699 of this cost covered by a California State Grant GF1909-0, drawn from account 26-1-6834. The net cost to the City is $37,518, provided from the adopted budget allocation to the Columbia Memorial Space Center for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 from account 24-4-4511-0700. The total cost of the project is approximately $182,657 with $74,440 covered by Challenger Center for Space Science Education through its partnership with Blue Origin. The agreement to be considered does not reference the funds provided by Challenger Center, only the remaining City contribution of $108,217. There are sufficient funds for the recommended actions.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Contractor Services Agreement