Hutchinson ? Directors of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center and the newly opened Challenger Learning Center say they will work together to further education about space.

The Challenger center opened Jan. 18 in Wellington, about 60 miles south of Hutchinson, the home of the Cosmosphere.

The Challenger Learning Center is the 53rd of its kind in the country. They were begun by the families of the seven astronauts killed in the Challenger explosion 20 years ago to continue space education through hands-on learning and critical thinking exercises.

“I see a lot of the things they are doing as very different from us,” said Joel Walker, director of education at the Cosmosphere. “Other than the fact it’s the same subject matter, space. I don’t see it as a huge area of competition right now.”

The Cosmosphere offers a space museum, IMAX theater and long-term educational programs.

Kevin Ikenberry, director of the Wellington center, said his program focuses more on training teachers in simulation centers, who then take what they’ve learned back to their classrooms. Often, the teachers offer a four- to six-week course before the students go to Challenger.

The Challenger’s simulation, a mission to Mars, lasts about three hours. Challenger will have a few exhibits, but nothing as wide-ranging as the Cosmosphere, Ikenberry said.

The Cosmosphere also has programs geared toward educators. Walker said the Challenger center will bring a new group of teachers into space education, and the Cosmosphere might be able to expand its teacher programs in response.

The Cosmosphere is not anticipating losing money from competition with the Challenger Center, Walker said. Bookings for educational programs for January and February are ahead of recent years and ahead of budget projections, he said.

Walker said the Cosmosphere and Challenger Center plan to work together on some workshops.

“For us it’s more important since we’re both in this same area of space science education. It simply makes more sense for us to work together than to compete with one another,” Ikenberry said.