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 on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It's part of the university and gets its funding from state money, ticket sales, gift shop sales, and donations.
This amazing center first opened its doors in 1949. Its special dome theater was used to train astronauts for famous space missions. Astronauts from the Gemini, Apollo, Mercury, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz missions learned about celestial navigation here. In fact, 11 of the 12 astronauts who walked on the Moon trained at Morehead Planetarium! For many years, it also had one of the largest working models of the solar system, called an orrery, in the world. The facility was a gift to the university from a generous former student, John Motley Morehead III, who invested over $3 million in its creation.
Contents
History of the Planetarium
The Morehead Planetarium officially opened on May 10, 1949. It took 17 months to build this special place. It was the very first planetarium in the Southern United States and the eighth one built in the entire country. What's even cooler is that it was the first planetarium ever built on a university campus anywhere in the world!
The building was designed by Eggers & Higgins, the same architects who planned the famous Jefferson Memorial. Building the planetarium cost about $3 million back then, which was a huge amount of money. This made it the most expensive building in North Carolina at that time. The official dedication ceremony took place on May 10, 1949.
It was hard to get a planetarium projector after World War II. The German company Carl Zeiss AG, which made these projectors, had lost most of its factories. 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 astronaut in the Project Mercury, Project Gemini, Apollo program, Skylab, and Apollo–Soyuz Test Project programs spent many hours training at the planetarium. They learned about celestial navigation, which is how to find your way using stars and planets.
Morehead technicians even made simple models of flight parts and tools for the training. They often used plywood or cardboard for these models. For example, a model of parts of the Gemini capsule was made from plywood and put on a barber chair. This allowed astronauts to practice moving in different directions. Some of these cool training items are still on display at the planetarium today.
This training was super important and may have even saved astronauts' lives! For instance, the astronauts on Apollo 12 used their training after their rocket was hit by lightning twice. This knocked out some of their systems, and they had to use their manual navigation skills. Gordon Cooper also used his training to make a very accurate landing during Project Mercury after a power failure.
Astronauts often enjoyed snacks like soft drinks and cookies during their long training sessions. Planetarium employees even had a secret code name for these sessions: "cookie time"! Sometimes, word would get out, and people like clothing designer Alexander Julian remember meeting Mercury Astronauts during their visits.
The first astronaut to train at Morehead was Neil Armstrong in March 1964. Armstrong visited again just months before his historic 1969 launch of Apollo 11. He spent a total of 20 days at Morehead over 11 training sessions, more than any other astronaut. Astronauts often said the "large dome" was "highly realistic" and called the facility "superb."
Many famous astronauts trained here, including Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Alan Bean, Frank Borman, Eugene Cernan, Michael Collins, Pete Conrad, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Fred Haise, Jim Lovell, Edgar Mitchell, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, Thomas P. Stafford, Jack Swigert, Paul J. Weitz, Ed White, and John Young.
The Fulldome Planetarium Theater
Morehead's planetarium theater can seat about 240 people. The dome is 68 feet (about 21 meters) wide and 44 feet (about 13 meters) tall. It uses two different projection systems to create amazing shows.
In February 2010, Morehead introduced its new fulldome digital video (FDV) projection system. This was the largest FDV system in the southeastern United States at the time. A company called GlaxoSmithKline helped pay for it, so the star theater is now called the GlaxoSmithKline Fulldome Theater.
Morehead also had a historic star projector, a Carl Zeiss Model VI. It was installed in 1969 and was used for field trip groups until August 2011. This projector could display about 8,900 different stars on the dome. The older shows used a mix of the Zeiss projector, slide projectors, and video projectors to create a multimedia experience.
Fun and Interactive Exhibits
On February 23, 2007, Morehead opened its first interactive exhibit called Zoom In: Science at the Extremes. This exhibit showed current science at very small and very large scales. It even featured research done by scientists from UNC.
Another exhibit, The Ancient Carolinians, opened on November 17, 2007. This exhibit explored the lives of the first people who lived in what is now North Carolina. It showed how they used 10,000-year-old artifacts found at an archaeological site called Hardaway. This exhibit later became Morehead's first traveling exhibit.
Science Stage Shows
The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center also has live shows on its Science Stage. These shows, called Science LIVE!, teach about the basics of science. They use experiments and demonstrations, and often ask people from the audience to help out!
Programs Beyond the Center
Morehead also has programs that travel to other places. The DESTINY Traveling Science Learning Program, which started in 2000, became part of Morehead in 2006.
The PLANETS Portable Planetarium Program brings the fulldome planetarium experience directly to elementary schools. This is great for schools that are too far away to visit the center in person.
Morehead Observatory
The Morehead Observatory is located on the top floor of the Morehead building. It has a 24-inch (61 cm) Perkin-Elmer reflecting telescope. This telescope is used by the UNC Physics and Astronomy Department. Even with city lights, it can still observe faint objects using special filters. The observatory helps with research on bright stars and gamma-ray bursts.
See also
- North Carolina Science Festival
