Morehead Planetarium and Science Center facts for kids
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| Established | May 10, 1949 |
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| Location | Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Type | Planetarium |
| Public transit access | Chapel Hill Transit |
The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is a cool place located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It's part of the university and gets its money from different places. Some comes from the state, some from ticket sales and gifts, and some from special grants.
This planetarium first opened in 1949. Its big dome theater was used to train real astronauts! Astronauts from the Gemini, Apollo, Mercury, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz space missions learned about how to navigate using the stars here. Can you believe that eleven of the twelve astronauts who walked on the Moon trained at Morehead Planetarium? That's pretty amazing!
The building was given to the university by a generous person named John Motley Morehead III. He spent over $3 million to create this awesome science center.
Contents
History of the Planetarium
Morehead Planetarium opened its doors on May 10, 1949. It took about 17 months to build. This was the very first planetarium in the southern United States. It was also the eighth one built in the whole country. What's even cooler is that it was the first planetarium built on a university campus anywhere in the world!
The building was designed by the same architects who planned the famous Jefferson Memorial. It cost about $3 million to build back then. That was a lot of money! It made it the most expensive building in North Carolina at that time.
The company that made planetarium projectors, called Zeiss, had problems after World War II. So, there weren't many projectors available. Mr. Morehead had to travel all the way to Sweden to buy a special Zeiss Model II projector. This projector became the heart of North Carolina's new planetarium. The very first show at the planetarium was called Let There Be Light.
Astronaut Training at Morehead
From 1959 to 1975, every single astronaut from the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project missions spent many hours training here. They learned how to find their way in space using the stars. This is called celestial navigation.
The people at Morehead even made simple models of spacecraft parts and tools. They often used plywood or cardboard! For example, they built a model of parts of the Gemini capsule from plywood. They put it on a barber chair so astronauts could practice moving it around. Some of these cool training items are still on display at the planetarium today.
This training was super important and sometimes even saved astronauts' lives! For example, during the Apollo 12 mission, their rocket was hit by lightning twice. This messed up their navigation systems. But because of their training at Morehead, the astronauts knew how to fix their systems manually. Gordon Cooper also used his training to land his spacecraft perfectly after a power failure.
Astronauts would enjoy snacks and drinks during their long training sessions. Planetarium workers even had a secret code name for these sessions: "cookie time"!
The first astronaut to train at Morehead was Neil Armstrong in March 1964. He came back many times, spending a total of 20 days training here. That's more than any other astronaut! Astronauts said the "large dome" was "highly realistic" and called the facility "superb."
Many famous astronauts trained here, including:
- Buzz Aldrin
- Neil Armstrong
- Michael Collins
- Pete Conrad
- Gordon Cooper
- John Glenn
- Gus Grissom
- Jim Lovell
- Alan Shepard
- Deke Slayton
- John Young
- And many more!
The Big Dome Theater
Morehead's planetarium can seat about 240 people. The dome is about 68 feet (21 meters) wide and 44 feet (13 meters) tall. It has two different ways to show things on the dome.
In 2010, Morehead got a new digital video projection system. This is called a fulldome digital video (FDV) system. It was the biggest one in the southeastern United States at the time! Now, the star theater is called the GlaxoSmithKline Fulldome Theater.
Morehead also has its old, historic star projector. It's a Carl Zeiss Model VI, installed in 1969. This projector can show about 8,900 different stars on the dome! It was removed in 2011, but the planetarium hopes to display parts of it for visitors to see.
Fun Exhibits
Morehead has cool interactive exhibits where you can learn by doing!
In 2007, they opened Zoom In: Science at the Extremes. This exhibit shows how science explores things that are super tiny or super huge. It even includes research done by scientists at UNC.
Another exhibit, The Ancient Carolinians, opened in 2007. This exhibit teaches you about the first people who lived in North Carolina thousands of years ago. It shows artifacts that are 10,000 years old! This exhibit later became a traveling exhibit, meaning it could visit other places.
Science Stage Shows
At Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, you can watch live shows led by educators on the Science Stage. These shows are called Science LIVE! They teach you about the basics of science through exciting experiments and demonstrations. Sometimes, they even ask people from the audience to help out!
Programs Outside the Center
Morehead also has programs that go out into the community:
- The DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program started in 2000. It brings science learning to different places.
- The PLANETS Portable Planetarium Program brings the fulldome planetarium experience to elementary schools. This is great for schools that are too far away to visit the center in person.
Morehead Observatory
On the top floor of the Morehead building is the Morehead Observatory. It has a large 24-inch (61 cm) telescope. This telescope is used by the UNC Physics and Astronomy Department for research. Even with city lights, they can still observe faint objects in space. The observatory helps with research on bright stars and gamma-ray bursts.
See also
- North Carolina Science Festival
