Page 9 - 2022 Report to the Community

SNEAK PEEK
Over the next
18 months, you
have the chance to connect with
as we host events
!
MINNESOTA’S ASTRONOMY CLASSROOM
the Bell as your
astronomy classroom
Mars: The Ultimate Voyage
focuses on the challenges of long-distance space flight and what it will take to get humans to Mars and back safely.
2022 was a BIG year in astronomy and provided another chance for the Bell Museum to truly be Minnesota’s Astronomy Classroom! With NASA’s successful deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Bell shared outstanding new images to planetarium audiences daily during our original Latest in Space planetarium show and during our monthly star parties. The Bell even sent Dr. Holly Menninger, director of public engagement & science learning, to the Kennedy Space Center to see NASA’s Artemis launch system up close!
Our Summer Campers had an out-of-this-world opportunity to speak virtually with two astronauts.
The conversation with Josh Cassada from White Bear Lake, who is currently stationed on the International Space Station, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, was moder- ated by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, and held in the Whitney and Elizabeth MacMillan Planetarium. In addition to hearing about their experience, Bell Campers had a chance to ask Astronaut Josh Cassada questions about training, innovations
in space technology, and his favorite planet (Earth, of course!).
In December the Bell opened our new original planetarium show, Mars: The Ultimate Voyage. This show, which took two years to produce and was funded through a competitive NASA grant, focuses on the challenges of long-distance space flight and what it will take to get humans to Mars and back safely.
on October 14, 2023
and April 8, 2024 to
observe two partial
solar eclipses