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Also this issue: Moore in Store Icepack |
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October 24-30, 2002
naked city
With a revamped planetarium and the new Space Command exhibit, it’s easy to go starry-eyed at the Franklin Institute.
With a $1.4 million makeover, which includes the installation of nearly 300 opaque aluminum panels to create a new, vastly lighter, slightly smaller dome, the Fels Planetarium is not your father’s star show anymore.
Sure, you'll still be able to see an amazing guide to the heavens when the planetarium reopens Oct. 25, after 10 months of renovation work. But unlike the previous setup, which debuted in 1933, the new Fels -- with four overlapping video projectors creating a seamless, high-definition, high-resolution view -- will allow visitors to see everything from deep space images on NASA's website to a live feed from the cameras on the space shuttle with a clarity never before possible.
Last week, the folks at the Franklin Institute unveiled the revamped planetarium, along with a new feature called Space Command, an interactive space science exhibit.
Though a technical glitch prevented a full-dome view of the new planetarium technology, the brief highlight reel version of what's to come was enticing. And those new panels really are pretty seamless, unlike the old ones, which were about as seamless as the turf at the Vet.
If reaction at the press tour was any indication, Space Command -- with 30 interactive stations -- is going to be one of the institute's most popular stops, for both kids and adults.
My two oldest, Hannah, 12, and Zack, 8, were particularly captivated by the build-your-own Mars rover exhibit and Remote Command, which is a three-person simulator wherein, among other tasks, those at the controls must guide an off-course Mars expedition back on course.
But the coolest component of Space Command, in fact maybe the coolest thing in the institute, are the consoles that provide access to keyhole satellite images.
Hannah immediately rushed over to one console, typed in our address and oohed and ahhed at the view, from space, of our house and surrounding neighborhood, a view so sharp that I could have watched my son field grounders on the nearby baseball diamond had he been out there at the time the image was taken.
I, meanwhile, was on the other console, navigating so that I could zoom in on Baghdad, which I did.
Sadly, the images available of Baghdad are at least eight years old, so my search for Saddam didn't get me very far.
But, if you look really closely, you might be able to see an old version of some of his palaces.
-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
