On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings in all of history to set foot on another world. To honor this monumental achievement the Vanderbilt Planetarium will be having special programs and presentations throughout the weekend from Friday July 19th to Sunday July 21st.
All weekend long the Planetarium will present the brand new, full-dome planetarium film Capcom Go! The Apollo Story.
Capcom Go! is an immersive, historical documentary that showcases the achievements of the Apollo program and what it took to put the first human on the Moon. It introduces a new generation to the immense challenges they overcame and will inspire them to become the explorers, designers, engineers, thinkers and dreamers of the future. The show is the perfect way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 in July 2019.
Friday Evening, July 19
We will be hosting a special presentation of our popular Long Island Skies live lecture planetarium program at 8 pm on Friday, July 19. Appropriate for all ages, visitors will learn about stars, constellations, planets, deep sky objects… but this show will have a special emphasis on the Moon in honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo.
Saturday, July 20
On Saturday July 20th there will be crafts for the kids. Including making a glow-in-the-dark Moon and fun straw rockets that actually fly! Crafts will be held from 12 pm to 4:00 pm.
At 1:00 PM on Saturday July 20th, we will have a very special talk in the planetarium theater by ex-Grumman engineer, Peter Reganato. Mr. Reganato was a design engineer that worked on Crew Systems on the Lunar Module from 1966 to 1970 including Apollo 11. During this presentation visitors will listen to firsthand accounts on what it took to land another human being on a distant world. The dome of the planetarium will serve as a backdrop for this once in a lifetime presentation from a true veteran of the era. After the talk Mr. Reganato will take time to answer questions from the audience. The presentation will last approximately one hour and is free of charge. Seating will be first-come, first-served. Appropriate for all ages.
On Saturday night starting at 8:30 pm members of the Astronomical Society of Long Island will be on hand with telescopes to view the celestial highlights in the sky. Including but not limited to the planets Jupiter and Saturn! This activity is weather dependent – if it’s cloudy unfortunately, we cannot use the telescopes. So, wish for clear skies!
Additionally, our planetarium gift shop has a special section dedicated to merchandise on the Moon and space exploration!
The special show schedule for the weekend is as follows:
Friday, July 19
12:00 PM – One World, One Sky
1:00 PM – Earth, Moon & Sun
2:00 PM – Capcom Go!
3:00 PM – Incoming!
4:00 PM – Capcom Go!
8:00 PM – Long Island Skies: A Trip to the Moon
9:00 PM – Capcom Go!
10:00 PM – Laser Rolling Stones
Saturday, July 20
12:00 PM – One World, One Sky
1:00 PM – Special Presentation by Grumman Engineer Peter Reganato
2:00 PM – Capcom Go!
3:00 PM – Capcom Go!
4:00 PM – Capcom Go!
8:00 PM – Night Sky Live!
9:00 PM – Capcom Go!
10:00 PM – Laser Queen
Sunday, July 21
12:00 PM – One World, One Sky
1:00 PM – Earth, Moon & Sun
2:00 PM – Capcom Go!
3:00 PM – Incoming!
4:00 PM – Capcom Go!
