Help settle a bet for me.  My friends and I have never been to the
Houston Astrodome.  I say that light gets through the ceiling of the
Houston Astrodome.  So if none of the lights were on in the Astrodome,
and you were at centerfield on a sunny day, you could still see around
somewhat.  My friend says that light does not get through the roof at
the Astrodome.  Who is correct?

Thanks

The passage of sunlight through the roof of the Astrodome was reduced
by about 40% when some of the transparent roof panes were painted (to
help eliminate glare). While this had an unfortunate effect on the
growth of grass, it did not render the building totally dark.

"In its first season, the Astrodome featured a natural grass playing
field. The dome, constructed from 4,796 clear plastic roof panes,
allowed direct sunlight for grass to grow. But during day games the
bright Texas sun blinded fielders trying to catch fly balls, so many
of the roof panels were painted white to soften the glare...

At a cost of $20,000, the outer Astrodome ceiling is painted because
the sun's glare makes fielding fly balls hazardous. Outfielders had
been wearing batting helmets in preseason games because of the glare.
Painting the skylights will reduce the lighting by nearly 40% and
create the need for lights. But the lack of sunlight will cause the
grass to die and spur the introduction of artificial turf. "

Baseball Library: Astrodome
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/A/Astrodome.stm

"Several functional problems that first appeared after completion of
the facility affected the performance of participants in sporting
events. For example, the facility?s transparent roof allowed sunlight
into the building. The sunlight was necessary to allow a special
variety of Bermuda grass to grow, but the sunlight caused a glare that
inhibited outfielders? vision while attempting to catch fly balls.
After experimenting with sunglasses and orange baseballs, several
coats of paint were applied to the skylights on the home plate side of
the dome. While this solved the glare problem, the grass began to die.
In 1966, the Astrodome introduced an artificial turf, quickly dubbed
Astroturf, to replace the natural grass. Today, the astrodome is the
only stadium that has two separate turfs, one for baseball and one for
football."

Historic Houston: Astrohistory
http://www.historichouston.org/newSite/landmarks/virtual/astrohistory.html 

My Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: astrodome roof OR ceiling light OR sunlight
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=astrodome+roof+OR+ceiling+light+OR+sunlight

I hope this is helps you to win your bet! If anything is unclear or
incomplete, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer
further assistance before you rate my answer.

Best regards,
pinkfreud

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Request for Answer Clarification by wkosebut-ga on 12 Jul 2005 15:15 PDT

Sounds good.  Never seen that info before.  So, this painting of the
roof from 1965 is still there today?  I don't see otherwise, so I'm
assuming so.

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Clarification of Answer by pinkfreud-ga on 12 Jul 2005 15:30 PDT

Yes, the roof panels are still painted. Every now and then a proposal
is made to remove the paint and restore the panels to their
transparent state:

"Alternatively, and equally unlikely is the possibility of rennovating
the building for soccer, cleaning off the roof panels to make them
clear and reducing the seating to somewhere around 35,000 - lower deck
only - and installing a smaller higher-end hotel - capable of hosting
visiting NFL and MLS teams and staffs - and maybe some sort of sports
hall of fame around the upper rings."

Houston Architecture: Future of the Astrodome
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/lofiversion/index.php/t1890.html

~pinkfreud

Excellent.  Thanks