BRADENTON, Fla. (WWSB) -The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature is gearing up to give space fans a front-row seat to the Artemis II rocket launch Wednesday evening, offering a mix of live viewing, immersive programming and hands-on learning.
“It’s a fully immersive experience — you can feel the pressure of the rockets as they lift off,” said Hannah Sparkes, planetarium supervisor at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature. The museum’s planetarium dome screen is designed to make visitors feel like they’re in space, creating what Sparkes calls “the perfect stargazing show.”
Sparkes said the museum will livestream the launch for the public inside the planetarium and pair it with a new show focused on NASA’s return-to-the-Moon efforts.
“In the planetarium we are actually live streaming that launch to the public, and we’ve also installed a new show called ‘Forward to the Moon’ that talks all about the Artemis missions,” she said.
Museum staff are also working to bring back new visuals from the launch site for future programs.
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“There are actually a couple of my planetarians that are down there right now getting 360 content,” Sparkes said. “Those videos will be sent to me where I will be able to put those on the dome and talk more about Artemis II.”
Sparkes said the museum will continue the conversation about the mission later this week during its ‘Eyes in the Sky’ program.
“I’m definitely going to be talking about it in our ‘Eyes in the Sky’ program this Friday and Saturday — kind of talking about where those astronauts are in their mission,” she said. She added that visitors can also explore infographics breaking down the mission, the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion capsule and the astronauts involved, along with why Artemis II is considered historic.
Beyond the planetarium, the museum is also encouraging visitors to connect with the mission through educational activities and artifacts — including meteorites that predate Earth’s history as we know it. “This is a meteorite from the Campo del Cielo site, and it’s about 4.6 billion years old,” Sparkes said.
For those whose interest in the night sky continues after launch night, Sparkes said more events are on the way. “Sidewalk Astronomy — our last one of the observing season — is coming up April 10th,” she said. “And we’ll be debuting a new planetarium show called ‘Mars: The Ultimate Voyage’ that talks about the next step after Artemis.”
For a full list of events coming up at the Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, visit their website.
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