MSUM Planetarium launches Summer Children’s Series
If you feel strongly about which planet is your favorite, come cast your vote at the Favorite Planet Competition Thursday, June 20, at the MSUM Planetarium.
The Favorite Planet Competition is the first children’s public show of the season. The doors open at 10:40 a.m. Special guests Kristin Brevik and Carrie Leopold, Solar System Ambassadors through NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s volunteer outreach program, will be ready with activities to get you started thinking about your favorite planet, including feeling how much a can of Coke weighs on another planet and finding out how much your weight changes if you could stand on another planet.
At 11 a.m., the planetarium tour of the planets begins, hosted by Planetarium Assistant Scarlet Gray Bernard, also a Solar System Ambassador. After touring the planets, visitors may cast their votes for their favorite planet.
The summer children’s series will feature one event per month. The second show will be “Mooniverse” on July 18 at 11 a.m., exploring the moons of the solar system. The third show will be August 8 at 11 a.m., about meteors, in preparation for the Perseid Meteor Shower in August. Planetarium admission is $5 per adult, $2.50 per child, senior, and Tri-College student.
The Solar System Ambassadors Program of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers information and excitement about real missions that explore our solar system. Volunteer ambassadors in communities throughout the country are selected by JPL based on their backgrounds and on their plans for public outreach activities. JPL provides ambassadors with educational materials and training. However, the opinions of Ambassadors are not necessarily those of NASA or JPL.
More information about the Solar System Ambassadors Program.
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.