You're never too old, or too young, to shoot for the stars. That's the thrust of the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, a not-for-profit public foundation nestled in the Pisgah National Forest of Western North Carolina.

At PARI, "astronomy" is a secret code word for how to hook children on science. Its 200-acre campus is located between Rosman and Balsam Grove. For about a decade, parents have shuttled their children up N.C. 215 and through the woods for PARI's educational programs.

But PARI doesn't always wait for visitors. Through programs such as its mobile StarLab, which is an inflatable planetarium, PARI brings astronomy to students statewide. StarLab can be set up in a gym or auditorium, where children crawl inside and learn about astronomical wonders such as the moon's orbit, how early explorers used constellations to navigate, and the scale and arrangement of the Milky Way.

"We estimate we've reached about 60,000 kids so far through StarLab," Christi Whitworth, PARI's education director, says. "We can have about 100 to 200 kids go through it per day, or about 5,000 per year."

Whitworth says that getting children interested in astronomy opens a window to teach them about physics, optics, chemistry, math and engineering. "We get them interested in a telescope, for instance, and then we teach them how to build their own telescope. That leads into discussions about how optics work, and physics and the like."

In summer, PARI offers programs where children come to the institute's forested campus for a week or two. Separate dormitories house boys and girls. For the past 10 summers, Duke University has operated their Talent Identification Program at PARI, with a focus on astrobiology and astrophysics.

PARI has also offered a Space Science Lab where kids build their own telescopes, sponsored by grants from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Participants take their instruments home and use them for activities throughout the school year. The children also take part in citizen-science observational programs, such as a NASA meteor watch.

"Kids love the hands-on activities," Whitworth says. "It's as much about building up their confidence to learn about astronomy as it is teaching them specifics about chemistry or math." Whitworth often keeps in touch with participants throughout the school year to let them know about science contests, internships and scholarships.

PARI also opens its campus to home-schooled students twice a year.

For the most part, PARI's summer programs cater to high schoolers but Whitworth says they also have programs year-round for middle schoolers, such as SciGirls. This program targets girls ages 9-14 and is tied to a PBS program of the same name.

"We have a lot of local interest in SciGirls and other programs," John Avant, PARI spokesman, says. "But in general, I think our remoteness hurts us."

To mitigate its remote locale, and to make its astronomical equipment accessible to all school children in the state, PARI developed a way to train teachers to use its large radioscopes from afar. Whereas optical telescopes collect and concentrate light, radio telescopes function like a gigantic ear that collects radio waves from outer space. These waves are then used to plot the position and speed of astronomical objects. After becoming certified in a one-day workshop, teachers can sign up for radioscope time and then dial into it from their classrooms, where they control it remotely. Children see the scopes operate in real time. Teachers can craft lessons on anything from the Doppler effect, to how waves behave, to space exploration.

"No university in this country has a facility like this," Avant says.

The general public can stop by on the second Friday of each month for an evening program that includes a tour and - when the weather cooperates - a telescope viewing.

Hush-hush heritage

If you're wondering why PARI is where it is, the site was chosen because it lies in a natural bowl depression in the mountains where it is free of radio-signal interference and light pollution. The campus was created in 1962 by NASA as part of an international network of satellite relay and listening stations.

In 1981, it was taken over by the National Security Administration, which used it as a spy listening station during the Cold War. Two large radioscopes, each about 85 feet across, were used to track foreign satellites, mainly Russian.

When the Cold War ended, the facility closed. After several years of inactivity, Greensboro businessman Don Cline saw an opportunity to use the former spy station to teach kids and the public about science. He started a not-for-profit organization to save the facility and eventually accrued enough cash to buy it from the government in January 1999. PARI estimates the value of the equipment left at its campus at about $200 million, while the institute itself has raised around $12 million in donations for operations over the past twelve years.