Space Craze

Meet our special guest speaker Dr. Margaret Weitekamp, space historian and curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Dr. Weitekamp will give a talk about her book Space Craze at 11 AM, which highlights a variety of space topics such as science fiction fandoms, space stations, and the Apollo program–all focused on the human race’s fascination with spaceflight. Tickets for the presentation include a catered lunch.

Guests can also explore space science activities in our classroom and experience a live planetarium show, “The Worlds Within Star Wars”, throughout the day at 10:15 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 2:15 p.m., and 3:15 p.m. The planetarium show and space science activities are included in general admission.
The space science activities will use National Informal STEM Education kits:
– NISE Craters: model the impact of meteorites on the surface of a planet or moon
– NISE Design Build Test: think up a space expedition, draw a design for a spacecraft, and then create one
– NISE Imagining Life: read about ‘extremophiles’ or animals that live in extreme habitats, and then imagine what kinds of animals could survive on the extreme environments of other planets
– NISE Orbiting Objects: this activity uses a gravity well and spheres of different sizes and weights to see how mass effects gravitational attraction in space

Tickets for the Margaret Weitekamp presentation are an additional $5.00 per ticket for members and non-members. There will be limited seating, so advance online registration for Margaret Weitekamp presentation required. The presentation is for ages 12 and up.