Research & Sources
Show the work.
Method
How the research was done.
- Desk research on 18 October 2026, covering sites, institutions and transit, aquarium feasibility, ocean science and media licenses, and funding, governance and sustainability.
- Nobody was contacted. No owner, agency or institution has been asked anything, and nothing here implies their interest or agreement. The one partner, Aethon (data and mapping), was founded by the person planning the center.
- Pages were not read in full. When this research was done, the cited web pages could not be opened directly, so facts come from search-engine excerpts of them. Re-open a source before relying on it for a decision.
- No county deed or parcel records were reached, so no parcel is identified anywhere on this site.
- The full research notes, with open questions for each topic, are internal working files and are not published. The main open questions are listed on the Potential Locations page.
Tags
What the labels mean.
- Verified
- Said by a primary source: a government record, the owner's or operator's own site, or an agency document.
- Reported
- Said by credible news or a secondary source; not yet confirmed in a primary record.
- Proposed
- Our proposal or our own estimate. Not yet confirmed, and nobody else has agreed to it.
- Unknown
- Not found in public sources. Only the owner or agency can answer.
Sources
By topic.
Showing all 152 sources. Type a word to narrow the list.
Ocean science
Nippon Foundation–GEBCO Seabed 2030 · 20 April 2026 · primary source
Global seabed mapping reaches new milestone as five million square kilometres added in a year (external link)NOAA Ocean Exploration · April 2026 · primary source
How much of the ocean has been explored? (external link)Science Advances (Bell et al.) · 7 May 2025 · primary source
How little we've seen: A visual coverage estimate of the deep seafloor (external link)NOAA Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing · undated · primary source
The Ocean (external link)NOAA National Ocean Service · undated · primary source
How deep is the ocean? (external link)NOAA JetStream · undated · primary source
Layers of the Ocean (external link)IPCC · 2021 · primary source
AR6 Working Group I, Summary for Policymakers (external link)Global Carbon Project · November 2025 · primary source
The Global Carbon Budget FAQs 2025 (external link)NOAA PMEL Carbon Program · undated · primary source
A primer on pH (external link)NOAA National Ocean Service · undated · primary source
How much oxygen comes from the ocean? (external link)World Register of Marine Species · 13 May 2026 · primary source
250,000 accepted marine species (external link)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution · undated · primary source
The Discovery of Hydrothermal Vents: 1977 (external link)NOAA Ocean Exploration · undated · primary source
Seafloor Mapping (explainer) (external link)GEBCO · undated · primary source
GEBCO Type Identifier (TID) Grid (external link)National Marine Educators Association · Version 3, 2020 · primary source
Ocean Literacy: The Essential Principles (external link)NOAA National Ocean Service · undated · primary source
How does pressure change with ocean depth? (external link)NOAA Ocean Exploration · undated · primary source
How deep is the ocean? (external link)NOAA Ocean Exploration · 2017 · primary source
Seamount in the Jarvis Unit, PRIMNM (EX1705 background image) (external link)
Ocean worlds beyond Earth
NASA Science · undated · primary source
Europa Clipper mission timeline (external link)ESA · September 2026 · primary source
Successful Earth flyby improves Juice's course to Jupiter (external link)NASA Science (Dragonfly blog) · 9 July 2026 · primary source
NASA's Dragonfly clears key tests as Titan rotorcraft takes shape (external link)Nature (Petricca et al.) · December 2025 · primary source
Titan's strong tidal dissipation precludes a subsurface ocean (external link)NASA JPL · June 2023 · primary source
NASA Cassini data reveals building block for life in Enceladus' ocean (external link)NASA · 12 March 2015 · primary source
NASA's Hubble observations suggest underground ocean on Jupiter's largest moon (external link)
River to ocean
Pennsylvania DCNR · undated · primary source
Lehigh Gorge State Park (Lehigh River, 103 miles to Easton) (external link)USGS · Water Year 1999 · primary source
Water-data report, station 01454700, Lehigh River at Glendon, PA (external link)Delaware River Basin Commission · 8 February 2023 · primary source
Delaware River Basin population update (external link)Delaware River Basin Commission · 2008 · primary source
2008 Annual Report (basin area by state) (external link)Partnership for the Delaware Estuary · undated · primary source
About Us (external link)
Places, ownership and constraints
ArtsQuest · 21 September 2026 · primary source
ArtsQuest celebrates next construction milestone for Turn & Grind Shop with beam signing (external link)ArtsQuest · undated · primary source
Turn & Grind Shop (Re-Imagine That! campaign) (external link)ArtsQuest · 12 August 2026 · primary source
Musikfest 2026 ranks among top three most attended festivals in its history (external link)Urban Land Institute · undated (about 2014–2015) · secondary source
SteelStacks Arts and Cultural Campus (case study) (external link)LehighValleyNews.com · 2023 · secondary source
Huge new Bethlehem parking garage opening just in time for Musikfest (external link)US EPA · undated · primary source
Documents, reports and photographs: ISG / Tecumseh Redevelopment (formerly Bethlehem Steel) (external link)US EPA Region III · 2023 · primary source
Final Decision and Response to Comments, Sands BethWorks Retail parcels (external link)US EPA Region III · 2023 · primary source
Final Decision and Response to Comments, Sands Gaming parcel (external link)US EPA Region III · 2023 · primary source
Statement of Basis, ArtsQuest parcels (external link)National Park Service · 2006 · primary source
South Bethlehem Downtown Historic District (NRIS 05001500) (external link)City of Bethlehem · undated · primary source
Historic and Conservation Districts (external link)US Department of the Interior · July 2024 · primary source
Interior Department celebrates selection of Pennsylvania's Historic Moravian Bethlehem (external link)UNESCO World Heritage Centre · 2024 · primary source
Moravian Church Settlements (ref. 1468), maps (external link)City of Bethlehem · 1 July 2014 · primary source
City Council minutes: Article 1317 floodplain amendment (FIRM effective 16 July 2014) (external link)NOAA National Weather Service, MARFC · undated · primary source
Historical floods: Lehigh River at Bethlehem (external link)PA DCNR Bureau of Geological Survey · 1987 · primary source
Open-File Report 87-02 (sinkholes, Northampton County) (external link)Pennsylvania Department of Revenue · undated · primary source
City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) (external link)LehighValleyNews.com · 2025 · secondary source
6 years after Martin Tower demolition, developer seeks $9M in public funds for new medical facilities on site (external link)Las Vegas Sands Corp. · 8 March 2018 · primary source
Las Vegas Sands agrees to $1.3 billion sale of Sands Bethlehem (external link)City of Bethlehem · 1 October 2024 · primary source
City Council agenda attachment: Approve Use Permit Agreement, ArtsQuest 2024 Ice Rink at SteelStacks (external link)City of Bethlehem · 2025 · primary source
City Council attachment: Approve Resolution, ArtsQuest 2025 SteelStacks Concert Series (external link)Lehigh University (OSPI) · undated · primary source
Transform Mountaintop (external link)ArtsQuest · undated · primary source
Directions/Parking - SteelStacks (external link)City of Bethlehem · undated · primary source
Zoning Ordinance (current PDF) (external link)City of Bethlehem · undated · primary source
Zoning Ordinance (archived copy), Section 1305.05 (external link)Lehigh University News · undated · secondary source
BethWorks now (external link)LehighValleyNews.com · 2024 · secondary source
Iconic Bethlehem blast furnaces at SteelStacks go dark. But why? (external link)PPL Electric Utilities · undated · primary source
Territory covered (external link)SteelStacks (ArtsQuest) · undated · primary source
Hoover Mason Trestle (external link)UGI Utilities · undated · primary source
Natural Gas Bethlehem and Northampton County PA (external link)UGI Utilities · January 2026 (per URL) · primary source
Gas Division tariff (current tariffs) (external link)WHYY · undated (about 2010s) · secondary source
How Bethlehem played industrial redevelopment's waiting game (external link)
Museums, education and programs
Allentown NIZ Development Authority · 22 May 2024 · primary source
Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion opens in downtown Allentown (external link)Da Vinci Science Center · 2026 · primary source
Finding Titanic: The Secret Mission (external link)National Museum of Industrial History · undated · primary source
Next Level: Raising Industrial History to New Heights (external link)National Museum of Industrial History · undated · primary source
Host an Event (external link)Nurture Nature Center · undated · primary source
Science On a Sphere (external link)Lehigh University · 2025–26 · primary source
Oceans Research Center (Catalog 2025–26) (external link)Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor · 2026 · primary source
Hugh Moore Park and National Canal Museum (external link)Wildlands Conservancy · undated · primary source
Environmental education (external link)FIRST Mid-Atlantic · 11 April 2026 · primary source
FMA District Championship Event Packet 2026 (external link)RoboNation · undated · primary source
SeaPerch kits (external link)Blue Robotics · undated · primary source
BlueROV2 (external link)Blue Robotics · undated · primary source
Tariff surcharge (external link)Allentown Public Library · undated · primary source
Museum Passes (external link)Bethlehem Area Public Library · 9 February 2026 · primary source
Museum Passes Free With Your Library Card (external link)Easton Area Public Library · undated · primary source
Museum Passes (external link)NOAA Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary · undated · primary source
Gray's Reef Ocean Discovery Center (external link)Pennsylvania DCNR · undated · primary source
Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center: Education Programs (external link)Lehigh Gap Nature Center · undated · primary source
Field Trips (external link)National Museum of Industrial History · 16 July 2026 · primary source
National Museum of Industrial History Celebrates 10 Years of Inspiring Innovation and Preserving America's Industrial Legacy (external link)
Transit
LANta · undated · primary source
Enhanced Bus Service (EBS) (external link)LANta · June 2026 · primary source
2026 June Service Changes (external link)Lehigh Valley Planning Commission (PennDOT / WSP) · March 2024 · primary source
Lehigh Valley Passenger Rail Feasibility Analysis, Final Report (external link)LehighValleyNews.com · December 2025 · secondary source
$400K study will take 'deeper look' at passenger rail in the Lehigh Valley (external link)Trans-Bridge Lines · 2026 · primary source
Schedules and stops (external link)OurBus · undated · primary source
Bethlehem, PA to New York, NY (external link)City of Bethlehem · 2016 · primary source
BethConnects: A Trail Study (external link)Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation · undated · primary source
Lehigh Valley's transportation network offers convenient market access for businesses (external link)LANta · 10 February 2026 · primary source
Board of Directors meeting minutes, 10 February 2026 (external link)
Aquarium feasibility
Association of Zoos and Aquariums · 2026 · primary source
The Accreditation Standards & Related Policies, 2026 edition (external link)Association of Zoos and Aquariums · undated · primary source
Accreditation FAQs (external link)Monterey Bay Aquarium · undated · primary source
Taking seawater to the extreme (external link)Deep-Sea Research II (Shillito et al.) · 2015 · primary source
Long-term maintenance and public exhibition of deep-sea hydrothermal fauna: the AbyssBox project (external link)Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium · undated · primary source
Deep-sea fish exhibition (paper) (external link)Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission · undated · primary source
Aquatic invasive species and prohibited species (external link)Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission · effective 1 January 2026 · primary source
Fish health certificate requirements (external link)Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom · 16 December 2025 · primary source
Program fact sheet (external link)CPL (architects) · undated · secondary source
Greensboro Science Center (external link)Ideastream Public Media · 19 January 2012 · secondary source
Cleveland aquarium makes a splash (external link)ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · 2024 filing · secondary source
The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk (Form 990 summaries) (external link)GlobeSt · 29 March 2002 · secondary source
Colorado's Ocean Journey sinks under debt (external link)Colorado Public Radio · 28 January 2024 · secondary source
Interactive aquarium SeaQuest Littleton to close (external link)City of Bethlehem · undated · primary source
Codified Ordinances, Article 923: Disposal and Discharge of Industrial Waste (external link)The Bond Buyer · 2003 · secondary source
Fish on the menu as Ocean Journey is bought by Houston restaurant chain (external link)Denver7 · January 2024 · secondary source
SeaQuest Littleton to close after years of citations, injuries to visitors and animals (external link)Association of Zoos and Aquariums · 2024 · primary source
The Accreditation Standards & Related Policies, 2024 edition (copy in a US Fish and Wildlife Service docket) (external link)FAO · 2008 · primary source
Procedures for the quarantine of live aquatic animals: a manual (Fisheries Technical Paper 502), chapter 1: Introduction (external link)Pennsylvania Code · amended effective 1 January 2024 · primary source
58 Pa. Code Chapter 63 (§ 63.46, sale, purchase or barter of injurious species) (external link)Pennsylvania Code · effective 1 January 2024 · primary source
58 Pa. Code § 71a.11. Prohibited species (external link)Justia (Pennsylvania Code) · current through November 2024 · secondary source
58 Pa. Code § 71a.4 (closed systems) (external link)Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission · undated · primary source
Apply for a permit for amphibian and reptile educator possession (external link)Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission · 2026 edition · primary source
Fishing Summary (Pennsylvania fishing laws and regulations) (external link)Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center · undated · primary source
Water Quality Lab (external link)World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) · 2024 · primary source
Aquatic Animal Health Code, Chapter 4.4 (disinfection) (external link)
Costs, funding and governance
Pennsylvania Department of State · undated · primary source
Charitable Organizations (registration) (external link)Pennsylvania Office of the Budget · undated · primary source
RACP at a Glance (external link)Pennsylvania DCED · undated · primary source
Local Share Account: Northampton and Lehigh Counties (external link)Pennsylvania DEP · 6 October 2026 · primary source
Shapiro Administration invests more than $400K in environmental education grants (external link)Congressional Research Service · 27 May 2026 · primary source
R48958: FY2026 appropriations for the arts, humanities and IMLS (external link)Harry C. Trexler Trust · undated · primary source
Grantseekers (external link)Museums for All (Association of Children's Museums) · 2026 · primary source
About Museums for All (external link)Association of Science and Technology Centers · 2024 data · primary source
The 2024 Annual Statistics Summary Report (external link)Association of Children's Museums · 2016 ACM Membership Survey data · primary source
ACM Trends 1.7: Using Museum Size & Locale to Understand Capacity (external link)ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · 2024 filing · secondary source
Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania (Form 990 summaries) (external link)ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · 2024 filing · secondary source
Sciencenter, Ithaca (Form 990 summaries) (external link)LehighValleyNews.com · undated (about 2023) · secondary source
Final steel beam starts countdown to opening of downtown Allentown Da Vinci Center (external link)Museum Planner · undated (pre-COVID figures) · secondary source
How much do museum exhibits cost (external link)Sciencenter · undated · primary source
Ocean Bound (exhibition rental) (external link)Science Museum of Minnesota · undated · primary source
Big Impact, Small Footprint (external link)Pennsylvania Office of the Budget · October 2023 version · primary source
RACP Frequently Asked Questions (external link)Pennsylvania Office of the Budget · updated 31 July 2026 · primary source
RACP: For Grantees and Subrecipients (external link)Institute of Museum and Library Services · undated (FY2027 round) · primary source
Inspire! Grants for Small Museums (external link)Harbor Compliance · undated · secondary source
Pennsylvania Charitable Registration (external link)Pennsylvania DCED · undated · primary source
Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) (external link)Pennsylvania DEP · undated · primary source
Environmental Education Grants (external link)Pennsylvania Department of Human Services · undated · primary source
Child abuse clearances (external link)Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (KeepKidsSafe) · 23 August 2024 · primary source
Volunteers having contact with children: frequently asked questions (external link)US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division · August 2015 · primary source
Fact Sheet #14A: Non-Profit Organizations and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (external link)Museums for All (Association of Children's Museums) · undated · primary source
Museum FAQs (external link)Stroud Water Research Center · undated · primary source
Educational Improvement Tax Credit (external link)Tyler Arboretum · undated · primary source
PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program at Tyler (external link)
Sustainability
City of Philadelphia L&I · October 2025 · primary source
Code Bulletin B-2501: Implementation of 2021 International Codes (Pennsylvania UCC) (external link)Congressional Research Service · 8 April 2026 · primary source
IF12862: The Section 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction (external link)Foley Hoag · June 2026 · secondary source
Federal court vacates IRS Notice 2025-42 (external link)Jones Day · August 2025 · secondary source
IRS issues new guidelines for wind and solar tax credits (external link)Internal Revenue Service · 15 August 2025 · primary source
Notice 2025-42: Sections 45Y and 48E beginning of construction (external link)U.S. Congress · 4 July 2025 · primary source
Public Law 119-21 (H.R. 1, One Big Beautiful Bill Act), §§ 70512–70513 (external link)
Media and data licenses
NOAA Ocean Exploration · undated · primary source
Multimedia Specifications (public-domain status and credit lines) (external link)NASA · undated · primary source
Images and Media Usage Guidelines (external link)GEBCO · undated · primary source
Terms of use for the GEBCO Grid (external link)Schmidt Ocean Institute · undated · primary source
Exploring the ocean with Creative Commons (external link)MBARI · undated · primary source
Requesting video and images (external link)
Credits
Images, illustrations and type.
The photos are credited to NOAA Ocean Exploration and NASA, not to Aethon. The files were first downloaded from Aethon's site, then matched to NOAA and NASA pages. Each links to the page it matches, with a note on how sure that match is. Where no page has been found yet (1 of 11), the link goes to a general NOAA page instead. 10 of 11 are not yet confirmed by the file's own embedded credit; before wide use, each will be compared with, or downloaded again from, its source page.
Predicted seafloor versus measured seafloor
Credit: Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration.
Source page: NOAA Ocean Exploration Meets Major Mapping Milestone on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer (external link)
Matched by the page's caption; the image itself has not yet been compared.
Black smoker chimney
Credit: Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas.
Source page: Black Smoker (external link)
Probable match by subject and caption; to be compared with the page.
Coral colony with brittle stars
Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration.
Source page: A Look Back (external link)
No image page found yet; the credit shown is NOAA's general one.
Polymetallic nodules
Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration.
Source page: Polymetallic Nodules (external link)
Matched by the page's caption; the image itself has not yet been compared.
Methane hydrate under a carbonate ledge
Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska.
Source page: Methane Hydrate (external link)
Matched by the page's caption; the image itself has not yet been compared.
A mural on the USS Yorktown
Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2025 Beyond the Blue.
Source page: Deep Discoverer Imaging Mural (external link)
Matched by the page's caption; the image itself has not yet been compared.
ROVs Deep Discoverer and Seirios
Credit: Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska.
Source page: ROVs Deep Discoverer and Seirios (external link)
Matched by the page's caption; the image itself has not yet been compared.
ROV engineers at work on deck
Credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska.
Source page: Preparing for Dunk Test (external link)
Probable match by subject and caption; to be compared with the page.
The control room, mid-dive
Credit: Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2026 ROV Shakedown.
Source page: Okeanos Explorer Control Room (external link)
The file's own embedded title and credit match this page.
NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer
Credit: Image courtesy of Caitlin Bailey, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration, 2024 Beyond the Blue.
Source page: Rainbow Seen from NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer (external link)
Probable match by subject and caption; to be compared with the page.
Earth, Pacific hemisphere
Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Blue Marble, 2002). Image by Reto Stöckli; enhancements by Robert Simmon.
Source page: The Blue Marble, a true-color 1km image of the Earth (external link)
Probable match by subject and caption; to be compared with the page.
NOAA Ocean Exploration images are in the public domain unless their page says “copyright”, and NASA imagery is generally not subject to US copyright; neither implies endorsement. All drawings, plans, maps and diagrams are original illustrations made for this project; none is a design. Type: Fraunces and Inter (SIL Open Font License). Content last reviewed 20 October 2026.