One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure (Gr. PreK - 1)

Young audience members will be thrilled when they find themselves on Sesame Street with their famous friends, Big Bird and Elmo. The fun begins when Elmo's friend, Hu Hu Zhu, visits from China, and the three of them take the audience on an exciting journey of discovery to learn about the Sun, stars, and the Big Dipper. Elmo and Hu Hu Zhu blast off on an imaginary trip to the Moon, and when they return home to Earth, everyone discovers that no matter where we live, we all share the same sky. Download the Educator Guide.

Max Goes to the Moon (Gr. PreK - 5)

Max (the dog) and a young girl named Tori take the first trip to the Moon since the Apollo era. Along the way, the story sets the stage for the more sophisticated science of the “Big Kid Box” sidebars, which cover topics including “Phases of the Moon,” “Wings in Space?,” and “Frisbees and Curve Balls on the Moon” — all thoughtfully explained so that grownups and children can learn together about science. Toward the end, Max and Tori’s trip proves so inspiring to people back on Earth that all the nations of the world come together to build a great Moon colony from which “the beautiful views of Earth from the Moon made everyone realize that we all share a small and precious planet.”

Earth, Moon, and Sun (Gr. 2 - 5)  

This planetarium show explores the relationship between the Earth, Moon, and Sun with the help of Coyote, an amusing character adapted from Native American oral traditions who has many misconceptions about our home planet and its most familiar neighbors. His confusion about the universe makes viewers think about how the Earth, Moon, and Sun work together as a system. Native American stories are used throughout the show to help distinguish between myths and science.

Learn why the Sun rises and sets and the basics of fusion and solar energy. Examine the Moon’s orbit, craters, phases, and eclipses. Also, the show explores past and future space travel to our Moon and beyond. Download the Educator Guide.  

Forward! to the Moon (Gr. 3 - adult) 

NASA’s 21st-century Artemis program, named after the Greek moon goddess and twin of Apollo, is the next step in our mission to explore the universe and land the first woman and person of color on the surface of the Moon. Using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before, NASA uses what they learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars. Join Kari Byron from Crash Test World and MythBusters as she launches on a journey beyond the Earth toward a sustainable future in space. 

Back to the Moon (Gr. 4 - adult)

After the Space Race of the 1960s, interest in the Moon quickly waned. The Google Lunar X Prize hopes to change that, reinvigorating interest in Moon exploration and colonization. This time, however, it’s different. A $30 million prize is being offered to all citizens of the world, not governmental space corporations, for achieving a successful Moon mission. The initiative is designed to instill in a new generation the wonders and importance of space travel and exploration.

CAPCOM GO! (Gr. 4 - adult) 

On July 20th, 1969, 600 million people worldwide gathered to witness a historic moment of human achievement broadcast live from the Moon.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong.

The world celebrated as the astronauts took their first steps on the Moon. But few people were aware of just how huge an effort it had taken to get them there. These Apollo 11 astronauts were just 2 of nearly 400,000 people who worked over ten years towards this goal. But how did they do it? What did it take to put humans on the Moon?

Living in Balance (Gr. 5 - adult)

Living in Balance: Anishinaabe Star Knowledge highlights Anishinaabe stories of constellations and moons in relation to contemporary insights about environmental changes. Teachings shared by Native Skywatchers Carl Gawboy, William Wilson, and Dr. Annette S. Lee are narrated by Aarin Dokum with Anishinaabemowin translations by Alphonse Pitawanakwat set to art by Elizabeth LaPensée. Download the Educator Guide.

Sunstruck (Gr. 5 - adult)

Travel back in time to experience the birth of our Sun and solar system. Discover how the Sun came to support life, how it threatens life as we know it, and how its energy will one day fade away. Produced by the Michigan Science Center, Sunstruck! was funded by NASA. Watch the trailer.

Supervolcanoes (Gr. 5 - adult)

Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch, Supervolcanoes is an immersive planetarium show that looks back at rare classes of eruptions that have marshaled the energy that lurks, like a sleeping dragon, beneath the surface of planet Earth. The program moves beyond Earth to explore the impact of giant volcanic eruptions around our solar system. Audiences will fly down to Neptune’s frigid moon Triton and onto the ultimate volcanic world: Jupiter’s moon, Io. On a visit to a legendary North American hot spot, Yellowstone National Park, the film asks: Can a supervolcano erupt in our time?

Solar Superstorms (Gr. 6 - adult) 

A fury is building on the surface of the Sun - high-velocity jets, a fiery tsunami wave that reaches 100,000 kilometers high, rising loops of electrified gas. What’s driving these strange phenomena? How will they affect planet Earth? Find the answers as we venture into the seething interior of our star. Download the Educator Guide.

The Sun: Our Living Star (Gr. 6 - adult)

The Sun has shone on our world for four and a half billion years. The light that warms our skin today has been felt by every person who has ever lived. It is our nearest star and our planet’s powerhouse, the source of the energy that drives our winds, our weather, and all life. The passage of the Sun’s fiery disc across the sky — day by day, month by month — was the only way to keep track of time for countless past civilizations. Don’t be fooled by the terminology; although it is a typical dwarf star, the Sun consumes 600 million tons of hydrogen each second and is 500 times as massive as all the planets combined. Discover the secrets of our star in this planetarium show and experience never-before-seen images of the Sun’s violent surface in immersive fulldome format.

Totality (Gr. 6 - adult)

Totality is all about eclipses, from lunar to total solar. We cover how they occur and what happens when they do. We look back to the proof of general relativity and look forward to upcoming eclipses and where to witness them. Our production includes a variety of beautiful styles, from spectacular space environments to humorous pop-up books. An extraordinary part of the show relates, in a very human way, what happens when you are caught in the shadow of the Moon, and the Sun is plunged into a total solar eclipse.