If you’ve ever dreamt of going to space, you’ll have to get a little training.
It’s kind of this rule that NASA has in order to be on a space shuttle destined for outside Earth’s atmosphere. And until they start offering scenic tourist packages, you’re kind of stuck doing all the hard work every astronaut goes through.
But have you ever wondered how astronauts train for being in outer space on Earth? There is this little thing called gravity that separates the two places and since space doesn’t have it and Earth does, it kind of seems to put a bit of a monkey wrench into the whole preparation side of things.
NASA has been sending people to space for a long time (unless you’re one of the people out there who doesn’t believe it’s possible) so there has to be something that works.
If you don’t believe us, then you might just want to check out Space School, the latest addition to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center’s planetarium show rotation.
It debuted earlier this month at Concord’s place for all things space, and we had to check it out.
So last Friday, we took in the 1 p.m. showing and it was the first time we had been in the planetarium since a school field trip many moons ago.
If you’ve never been, it seats 103 people and includes a 40 foot dome overhead that gives you a whole different way to view your entertainment.
The show is only about 35 minutes, but will leave you feeling like you just became an astronaut – except without all the actually training to be one.
It turns out that putting on a space suit with properly placed weights can help you replicate zero gravity when you’re underwater. Who woulda thunk it?
So Space School gives you a behind the scenes look at what life is like for NASA students. And it’s quite interesting.
The Discovery Center has a five-year license for the show, so it will be rotating on and off the schedule between now and November 2021. So you’ve got plenty of time to see it, but it is brand new to the planetarium lineup.
It will be shown at 1 p.m. each day the Discovery Center is open, which right now is Friday through Sunday, through April. Then it will be brought back for three month runs through 2021.
The planetarium is also home to The Little Star That Could, Extreme Planets, Tonight’s Sky and From Earth to the Universe.
The Discovery Center is open Friday through Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the first Friday of the month, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Planetarium shows are $5 in addition to your admission.
For more info, visit starhop.com.
