The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum unveils new state-of-the art digital technology in its Albert Einstein Planetarium on Saturday, April 13, during a day of free activities for visitors. A new feature, "Infinity Express: A 20-Minute Tour of the Universe," will showcase this technology, which creates the sensation of movement for the planetarium audience. Actor Laurence Fishburne is the narrator.
The National Air and Space Museum will celebrate the grand opening of "Infinity Express" with free showings at 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on April 13. Tickets will be available at the Einstein Planetarium box office on a first-come, first-served basis.
From 10 a.m. until 3 p.m., free, hands-on demonstrations throughout the museum will explore the science of aviation and space flight. They include "Forces of Flight," "Living and Working in Space" and model airplane building.
The renowned Zeiss VI-a star projector remains at the center of the Einstein Planetarium's SkyVision projection system. The new digital all-dome system adds 12 powerful projectors to pump seamlessly blended space imagery onto the entire surface of the 70-foot-high planetarium dome. The images extend beyond the visitors' peripheral vision, creating the sensation of a three-dimensional journey through the cosmos. The Albert Einstein Planetarium is the first planetarium in the world to feature this particular system.
"With this new digital all-dome technology we will meet the challenge of providing solid educational content that is both engaging and fun," said Gen. John R. Dailey, director of the National Air and Space Museum. "This important upgrade keeps the Einstein Planetarium at the forefront of the planetarium industry and will inspire the next generation of space explorers."
"Infinity Express: A 20-Minute Tour of the Universe" will give full reign to the dazzling capabilities of the newly installed projection system. Visitors begin their journey at a casual gathering of stargazers only to be whisked away through a raging storm of space data imagery streaming across the planetarium dome. Audiences will feel as though they are zooming through the solar system, past the Milky Way, to the very edges of the cosmos.
Utilizing the latest data from space, including images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, "Infinity Express" explores the questions humans have asked for thousands of years: How big is the universe? Where does it end? Are we alone? "Infinity Express" demonstrates the science of discovery and just how far humans have come since Copernicus sought to prove that the sun, not the Earth, was the center of our solar system.
Today most people live in urban areas where light pollution makes it impossible to see much more than the brightest stars and planets. Planetariums offer an accurate representation of the entire night sky and a variety of programming capable of exploring deep into space, making them ideal teaching tools.
The Zeiss VI-a projector was presented by West Germany to the United States as a bicentennial gift when the National Air and Space Museum opened in July 1976. It continues to produce highly accurate representations of the night sky and the most spectacular star fields seen in planetariums today.
"Infinity Express," co-produced with Sky-Skan, Inc., is presented daily in the Albert Einstein Planetarium. General admission is $7.50 for adults and $6 for students and seniors. For more information, call (202) 357-2700.
The program's narration is available in English, French, German, Japanese and Spanish. Open-captioning for hearing impaired visitors and audio descriptions for visually impaired members of the audience are available.