Planetarium Shows

The Body Code takes you on an amazing 3D journey around and through the human body. After viewing the skeleton and major organs, you will then board a miniature submarine before being injected into an artery. Fly through the carotid artery; explore the eye, brain, ear, and heart. Then, shrink into a cell to see its nucleus and DNA within. Discover how DNA programs the body's cells to form the circulatory and nervous systems. Then watch from inside as we use lasers to fight disease at the cellular level.  21 Minutes.    Grades: 2 - Adult

Tales of the Maya Skies immerses you in the beauty of the “seventh wonder of the modern world,” Mexico’s Chichén Itzá. Hear the story of the ancient Maya civilization. Experience a new digital full-dome planetarium show, Tales of the Maya Skies, which transports you to the jungles of Mexico, presenting the rich history and culture of the ancient Maya. Using the latest three dimensional laser scanning and advanced graphic techniques, Tales of the Maya Skies weaves together the richness of Maya culture, stories, and science. Tales of the Maya Skies is available in both an English language version and a Spanish language version.  33 Minutes.    Grades: 3 - Adult.

Tales of the Maya Skies Educator Guide          Tales of the Maya Skies Trailer

Earth's Wild Ride is a fast paced movie that immerses audiences in a 3-D tour of Earth's history and natural wonders. Set on the surface of the Moon in the year 2081, the movie opens with a grandfather and his grandchildren gazing into space on the evening of an Earth eclipse. As they watch the shadow of the Moon move across the Earth, the grandfather tells stories of crashing asteroids, erupting volcanoes, roaring dinosaurs, and electrifying lighting in a booming thunderstorm. While learning about eclipses, the ice age, Earth's water cycle and differences between the Earth and Moon, the audience is taken on a roller-coaster like ride through canyons of raging rivers and hot flowing lava.  25 Minutes.    Grades: 2 - Adult.

Earth's Wild Ride Educator Guide

The Little Star that Could is a full color 3-D animation about Little Star, an average yellow star in search of planets of his own to protect and warm. Along the way, he meets other stars, learns what makes each special, and discovers that stars combine to form star clusters and galaxies. Eventually, Little Star finds his planets. Each planet is introduced with basic information about our Solar System.  35 Minutes.   Grades: K - 4.

Little Star K-2 Educator Guide                   Little Star 3-6 Educator Guide

Two Small Pieces of Glass traces the history of the telescope from Galileo's simple instrument to the magnificent Hubble Space Telescope. Two teenage students attend a local star party and are introduced to wonderful sky objects including the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, and distant spiral galaxies. They learn how telescopes work and how they have continued to expand our understanding of the Universe.   25 Minutes.   Grades: 3 - Adult.

Saturn, the Ringworld 2 presents Saturn as the true "Lord of the Rings". After nearly 7 years in transit, the two-story Cassini-Huygens spacecraft orbited Saturn. Cassini continues to explore Saturn and its moons, while the  Huygens probe has landed on the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. See Saturn up close and all around you inside our dome theater. This mission has been a resounding success giving us greater knowledge of the gas giant and its moons.  25 Minutes.   Grades: 3 - Adult.

Cassini equinox mission home:  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/  

IBEX: Search for the Edge of the Solar System invites you to join scientists who are investigating the boundary between our Solar System and the rest of our galaxy. Designed for visitors with an appreciation of the challenges of space science and a desire to learn more about science research, our show follows the creation of NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). Audiences will get an in depth look at the mission and how IBEX is collecting high speed atoms to create a map of our Solar System's boundary.   30 Minutes.  Grades: 4 - Adult.

      IBEX trailer:  http://ibex.swri.edu/multimedia/mov/ibextrailer_web.mov 

Season of Light is an elegant program about the coldest and darkest of seasons — a time which holds some of the warmest and brightest celebrations of the year.  This presentation traces the history and development of many of the world's most endearing holiday customs, all of which involve lighting up the winter season.  The show also recounts the historical religious and cultural rituals practiced during the time of winter solstice — not only Christian and Jewish, but also Celtic, Nordic, Roman, Irish, Mexican and Hopi.  Naturally, there is some astronomy in Season of Light.  Audiences learn a selection of Northern hemisphere winter constellations, and find out why we even have seasons, as we demonstrate the Sun's path across the sky throughout the year, and the Earth's tilt and orbit around the Sun.  35 Minutes.  Grades: 5 - Adult.   (Note, "Season of Light" is presented during the months of October through December only.)