WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Stargazing is typically an activity reserved for nighttime, but for people at the Museum of Aviation, exploring space is as simple as inflating their new mobile planetarium.
Three weeks ago, the museum’s National STEM Academy acquired a new StarLab planetarium that can educate students right from their school.
It takes the planetarium five minutes to fully inflate and can hold up to 30 students at a time.
“I love all of it,” says Ashley Harris, an instructor with the academy’s TinkerTech program. “I can look up anything, like the nearest space station. I can ‘magic school bus ride’ into the planets.”
In the planetarium, students can learn all about things like lunar phases and our solar system.
“It kind of gets a little boring just seeing it in books and just pictures of it,” says Harris. “Being in the planetarium gives it that ‘wow’ effect.”
The planetarium can visit any school within 50 miles of the Museum of Aviation. It can also be visited at the museum for $3 a person.
The museum’s TinkerTech program helps children learn more about space and technology through hands-on activities and camps.