Countdown to Apollo 11
Schedule of Activities

Enjoy a day at the Planetarium as we begin our countdown towards our celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission and the first steps of man on the moon.  

Join us for a day of STEM and space related activities, as we celebrate humankind's first journey into space!

Please note - All activities are free to the public, however due to limited seating in the Planetarium, you must have a ticket to attend a show.  Tickets will be available on a first come, first serve basis on the day of the event in the Planetarium.

11:11 a.m. - Opening of the festivities

The following activities will be running continuously throughout the day:

• Lunar Observing - What does a waxing crescent moon like like?
• Sunspot Observing - How many spots are on the sun today?
• The Mystery of the Focault Pendulum - What makes the pendulum move?
• UV Bead and Sunscreen Experiment - Does sunscreen SPF really matter?
• Astronaut Photo Station - Do you want to be an astronaut or at least know what you would look like if you were one?  Take your picture at the photo station and find out!
• Touchdown Activity - Can you design and build a shock absorbing vehicle that will protect your astronauts when they land?  Give it a try!
• On Target Activity - Could you land an object, on target, on a distant planet or moon if you had to?  Maybe you will be the next NASA engineer!
• Ozobots! - Do you love cute, little robots?  Have you ever wanted to learn coding?  See if you can code your Ozobot to dance across your name!

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In addition, join us for the following shows:
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12:00 pm - 12:30 pm - Planetarium Show - One World, One Sky (Pre-K - Early Elementary Age Audiences)
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One World, One Sky is a fulldome planetarium show that follows Sesame Street's Big Bird and Elmo as they explore the night sky with Hu Hu Zhu, a Muppet from Zhima Jie, the Chinese co-production of Sesame Street. Together, they take an imaginary trip from Sesame Street to the moon, where they discover how different it is from Earth.

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm - Planetarium Show - Earth, Moon & Sun (Elementary - General Audiences)

This planetarium show explores the relationship between the Earth, Moon and Sun with the help of Coyote, an amusing character adapted from Native American oral traditions who has many misconceptions about our home planet and its most familiar neighbors.  His confusion about the universe makes viewers think about how the Earth, Moon and Sun work together as a system. Native American stories are used throughout the show to help distinguish between myths and science.

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm - ​To Space and Back (General Audiences)

To Space & Back takes audiences on an incredible journey from the far reaches of our known universe to our own planet. It is an extraordinary story of human ingenuity and incredible engineering, describing how the technology that transports us through space is paving the way for the devices and apps we use every day. What is happening above is coming back down to Earth!

4:45 pm - Closing Ceremony - Sky Tour in the Planetarium

​5:00 pm - Maryland STEM Festival 2018 closes