Discovery Science Center Almost All Squared Away

It wasn’t quite like the 1969 moon landing, when space-suited astronauts with a huge flag in tow claimed the rock for mankind.

But the unfurling of a little American flag on top of the newly erected cube at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana on Tuesday marked a scientific achievement nonetheless.

After almost three years of architectural planning, engineering and construction, the final piece of the giant cube’s frame was hoisted by crane.

At 9:45 a.m., workers Jim Barrett and Mark Hale scaled the 108-foot structure and painstakingly tightened each node by hand to lock the final piece into place.

Made of 2,636 steel tubes, each 5 feet long and held together by 667 nodes, the cube appears to balance on one point though in fact two of its other points rest against the science center building.

Inside, exhibits still are being installed for the Dec. 19 opening. Visitors will be able to make rockets from plastic film canisters, build a space rover and rock through earthquakes of varying magnitudes.

Museum officials said the cube already has done its job: attracting passersby who will ask questions about both the new landmark and the science center attached to it.

Passing by on the Santa Ana Freeway on Tuesday “there was traffic slowing down and actually looking at it,” said Melissa Centeno, marketing manager for the center.

About 225,000 cars will pass the cube daily, and the center’s hope is that some will be so intrigued by the structure that they will want to visit the center, she said.

“Basically, since we were going to be off the 5 freeway, we wanted something that was going to stand out,” she said.

“There are three perfect, three-dimensional shapes in nature: the sphere, the pyramid and the cube. Disney World had already done the sphere, the pyramid was at the Luxor in Las Vegas and other places, so we thought, ‘Hey, why not the cube?’ ”

The final part of the cube, an 80,000 fiberglass “skin,” has yet to be attached. Materials are being tested for their wind and weather resistance, Centeno said, and when those tests are finished, the science center will apply for a permit from the city to complete the structure.

When completed, the cube will be connected to the second floor of the museum by a bridge. Visitors will be able to enter the hollow structure, which also will house exhibits.