McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center open for fun all winter long

By Insider Staff - Dec 10, 2019 | 0 comments

While wearing a replica of Alan ShepardÕs spacesuit, Jerrid Kenney helps 7-year-old Trase Boudreau of Beverly, Mass., use the OmniGlobe to look at the moon and different planets in the Looking at Earth, Looking Beyond exhibit at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014. (ELIZABETH FRANTZ / Monitor staff) Visitors to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center last Saturday got to see an usual sight – a walking, talking astronaut. While the astronaut was really volunteer Jerrid Kenney of Manchester donning a replica of Alan Shepard’s spacesuit, young visitors and parents didn’t seem disappointed. The astronaut will be at the museum every Saturday from noon to 3:30 p.m. until Christmas. Above: Ada Wright, 3, gives a high-five to Kenney.Left: Kenney helps Trase Boudreau, 7, of Beverly, Mass., use the OmniGlobe. ELIZABETH FRANTZ

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is open to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plus the first Friday night of each month from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The Discovery Center will also be open for winter vacation from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Closed on New Year’s Day).

The December planetarium show lineup covers flight, humanity’s first steps on the moon, the planets, stars, constellations, and solar science: Take Flight at 11 a.m., CapCom Go! at noon, Attack of the Space Pirates at 1 p.m., Tonight’s Sky at 2 p.m. and Sunstruck at 3 p.m. every day the Discovery Center is open to the public.

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, the Discovery Center will open its doors for the Member’s Holiday Party from 4 to 6:30 p.m. All the exhibits and galleries will be open for the evening and a special winter-themed planetarium show will be played. No holiday party is complete without hot cocoa and cookies! There will also be ornament painting and decorating, so the whole family can come. Not a member? Check out the Discovery Center’s website (starhop.com) for more info.

On Thursday, a special homeschool workshop: Traveling with the Moon and Stars, explores how the Apollo program made the great leap to the moon, a challenge that incorporated communicating and navigating in a dynamic landscape. Email snappo@starhop.com to sign up in advance.

Make sure to stop by the Science Store during the holiday season to get your gift shopping done! The Science Store is open every day the Discovery Center is open to the public and is filled with a wide variety of air and space-related toys, books, science kits, T-shirts, caps and memorabilia. All proceeds from sales support the Discovery Center.

The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center features 21st-century interactive exhibits on aviation, astronomy, Earth and space science, a full-dome, all-digital planetarium and a variety of science, technology, and engineering and mathematics programs. The engaging, robust educational programs are geared towards families, teens, seniors, students, community groups and lifelong learners.

Sarah NappoMcAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center