What makes a place liveable?
Join us for an exciting family day and online activities that explores that question.
From our own homes to the far reaches of the cosmos, we'll dive into the science of habitability—what it takes for a place to support life, whether on Earth or beyond.
1. Discovery Station: Spacesuit
Learn how the spacesuit, or Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), keeps astronauts safe as they work in the vacuum of space. Get an up-close encounter with a real space suit, gloves, boots, and additional garments needed for space walks.
2. Interactive Scavenger Hunt
Explore museum exhibits about unexpected and surprising discoveries by doing fun missions, activities and photo challenges. Earn points with every activity you complete! Requires the Goosechase app.
3. Story Time - Goldilocks in Space by Peter Bently
Readings at 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, 1:00 pm.
Join us as we read Goldilocks in Space by Peter Bently, illustrated by Chris Jevons, a fairy tale with a futuristic twist. We'll follow along on Goldilocks' space adventure to discover a planet that is "just right" for setting up a new home.
4. Play Area for our Youngest Visitors
Imagine living on another planet. Build a home out of Magnatiles.
5. Activities: Tree Parts Sensory Play, Make Your Own Greenhouse
with our Education colleagues from the National Zoo
Explore the different parts of a tree through sensory play by pinching, scooping, and pouring natural materials like dirt, acorns, and branches. Learn about the basic needs of plants by creating your own greenhouse to take home with you.
6. Community Art Activity
NASA plans on building a lunar base on the Moon. If you had to live there, what would you want your lunar home to look like? Share words or drawings on our community art piece.
7. Planetarium Shows
Free, 25 minutes in duration
Shows at 10:30 am, and 11:50 am
Watch a live, guided tour of the night sky, including information about exoplanets. The facilitator will answer questions from the audience
Free tickets are available at the box office on the second floor. Please arrive ten minutes before start time for seating.
8. Discovery Station: Living and Working in Space
How do you eat in space? What do astronauts wear while on a mission? At this station, explore artifacts that answer these and other questions.
9. Activity: Make a Space Travel Poster
Explore how Earth, the Moon, and planets outside our solar system are different from each other. Create a travel poster to share what you learned.
10. Meet Museum Scientists from the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies
Meet our resident experts on planetary interiors, Mars, and planetary exteriors. Learn more about where habitable environments might exist across the Solar System. Ask about how we explore other plants and how we can search for life.
11. Discovery Station: Exoplanets
Could humans live on other worlds? Learn about planets that orbit stars other than our sun, also known as "exoplanets"! At this station, you will discover how astronomers find exoplanets and determine if they might be able to support life.
12. Discovery Station: Decoding Starlight
Become a light detective and learn how to find hidden patterns in starlight. These clues can reveal what an star is made of as well as its temperature!