Posted by Davin Flateau on 18 Apr 2007 at 9:05 am.
Filed under General, Event, Astronomy, Exploration Place.
If it’s April, that must mean it’s time for Exploration Place’s “Spring Spaceout”, also known as AstroFest 2007! Kansas’ largest celebration of National Astronomy Day is on Saturday, April 21 from 10am - 2pm, and is a packed fun-filled day of activities, demonstrations, special guest lectures, and digital space theater shows for the whole family, celebrating the amazing world of astronomy, the planets, and space exploration. Learn from experts about what’s in the night sky tonight, the latest discoveries about the planets, how to set up and use a telescope, fly through asteroids and land on Mars in our CyberDome Theater, and even look through a telescope in the daytime to see live gigantic solar storms! You can even win a great telescope!
Special pricing will be in effect that day, making visiting Exploration Place astronomically affordable that day! Admission to Exploration Place, including the CyberDome shows for the day is only $7 for adults. Call 316-263-3373 for more details!
The keynote speaker for AstroFest 2007 is Dr. Dan Durda of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, speaking in the Kemper Creative Studio at 2pm. His research specializes in asteroids, meteor impacts, and searching for undiscovered minor planets in the inner solar system. Dr. Durda is also an accomplished space artist, holds a pilot’s license, and is an expert underwater cave diver. He also is a hiker, caver (spelunker) and geologist. Dr. Durda will be speaking about, among other things, his efforts on working with NASA to plan a manned mission to a nearby asteroid.
Another great lecture will be by Steve Arnold of the Brenham Meteorite Company, speaking at 3:30pm. Steve Arnold, a Wichita native, is a professional meteorite hunter and the founder of the Brenham Meteorite Company. Steve specializes in recovering meteorites from Kiowa county, Kansas that have been buried for thousands of years underground. In October 2005, Steve made one of the greatest meteorite discoveries of modern times, when he unearthed the largest meteorite of its kind known to exist, weighing in at over 1,400 pounds. Today at Exploration Place, Steve will be relaying his adventures as a meteorite hunter, including how he finds these ancient space rocks, and detailing his latest finds.
Andrew Shaner, of the University of Arizona, will speak at 12pm. Andrew is a graduate student at the University of Arizona and team member of the Phoenix Mars Mission, the next mission to Mars, due to launch this August. Andrew will give an overview of the Mars Phoenix mission and its lander, which will study the surface and atmosphere near the north pole of Mars. Andrew is a graduate of Wichita State University and Northwest High School.
Other activities during AstroFest include:
Telescope (Meade ETX-80) and Astronomy Magazine subscription giveaway (entries will be eligible for a nationwide giveaway for an LX-200R telescope!)
Solar observing, outside main entrance (weather permitting)
Buzz Liteyear Space Station Moonwalk outside. 10am-2pm
Astronomy Bingo & Straw Rocket Making
Crater Making and Moon on a Stick
Planetary Water Weight
Ask An Astronomer Booth
Computer Stations
Kansas Astronomical Observers presenting “How to Use a Telescope”
CyberDome Theater Schedule of digital space theater shows:
10:30am: Chirpie’s Magical Sky
11am: Secret of the Cardboard Rocket
12pm: Cosmic Collisions
1pm: Stars Over Kansas
2pm: Cosmic Collisions
3pm: Black Holes
4pm: Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon
