Mission
Project Night Sky brings astronomy education, dark sky awareness, and hands-on stargazing programs to rural communities and underserved schools — wherever they are, whatever resources they have. We go where the programs don't exist yet.
Goals
Three ways we close the gap between the universe and the people who live under it.
01.
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Take the telescope to the people. We bring astronomy education directly to rural communities, dark sky fields, and teach new ways to study the stars.
02.
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Fight light pollution. We raise awareness about what communities are losing — and why the dark skies above them are worth protecting.
03.
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Preserve the sky's stories. From Shona and Ndebele oral histories in Zimbabwe to Native American star knowledge — we document what could be lost.
“Nothing compares to the connection I felt from seeing unpolluted night skies. I suddenly wanted to share that experience with anyone who could be persuaded to look up.”
Haley Rice | Founder
History
Project Night Sky was founded in 2016 by Haley Rice, then 16 years old, after a road trip revealed something hiding in plain sight: rural communities living under some of the darkest, most spectacular skies on Earth — with no one telling them what they were looking at.
The idea was simple. Don't wait for people to come to the telescope. Take it to them.
Since then, PNS has run astronomy programs across rural Tennessee, partnered with the Cahaba River Society, exhibited at EAA AirVenture, and in 2025 launched the second-ever astronomy program in Zimbabwe's history — the first non-governmental one in the country. A live telescope feed between Lynnville, Tennessee and Mlomotsha Secondary School in Zimbabwe is in development, connecting two communities across hemispheres in real time.
Haley is completing her Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Alabama in May 2026, with a concentration in space archival studies. She is in her 12th year of volunteering at the Von Braun Astronomical Society.
The sky belongs to everyone. We're making sure everyone knows it.