Robert Scobee

Robert Scobee, Will Rimel, Kristin Bengston and Jennifer Gaither were among local kids who got an advance look last month of the Science Center's new Planetarium.

The grand reopening of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium was held Friday, June 22. That was after completion of a $13 million remodeling.

The Planetarium has three inside levels. The ground level is called the "SkyPort." It's outfitted like an airport of the future. It has live theater productions and even a video/computer link to NASA's TV system.

The top two levels are the Boeing Space Station. The first of these levels is called the "StarBay." You can see a projection of stars as they appear above earth. Also, there are labs that show how astronauts live in space.

The top level is called "StarBridge." This is where you can do experiments based on problems astronauts face in space.

Scobee, Rimel, Bengston and Gaither got their look before the grand opening because they attended one of the one-week Science Center Summer Science Lab camps. They got a planetarium tour even while workmen still were installing exhibits.

Twelve-year-old Scobee said the exhibit he liked best was the robotic arm on the model space station. Astronauts can operate the arm from inside the space station. Scobee admitted he fumbled some of the pieces while trying out the model arm.

The seventh grader from Whitfield School was asked what he'd do if he were using a real arm and dropped something in space. "I'd probably panic," he admitted.

Although he enjoyed the exhibit, he said he wouldn't want to make a trip into space. "There are lots of dangers and things," he said. Rather than traveling in space, Scobee plans to be an architect.

Kristin Bengson

But, fellow camper Kristin Bengston said, "I'd like to go to the moon and orbit the earth."

However, 12-year-old Kristin said she'd worry a little about food served in space. She did like the food exhibit, which showed most foods coming in tubes.

But, the Crestview Middle School seventh grader said, "The food didn't look very appetizing."

Kristin expects to have a career in biotechnology. She said she got turned on to that during a fourth grade class. She said she likes math and science.

Will Rimel

Thirteen-year-old Will Rimel is an eighth grader at Hixon Middle School in Webster Groves. He said he liked the exhibit where he could put his hands into gloves attached to an air-tight box with a window showing the inside.

This is the sort of box where astronauts can mix new medicines without getting any of the material on themselves. In the space exhibit, the kids use their gloved hands to fit different blocks together.

Concerning space travel, Rimel said, "I wouldn't mind taking the trip to Mars. But, I wouldn't want to actually get off on Mars."

Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Gaither is an eighth grader at Northeast Middle School in the Parkway District. As far as taking a trip in space, Jennifer said, "I'd go if someone really wanted me to. But, I wouldn't volunteer."

She said the planetarium exhibit she liked the best was "the big room with the projector which showed all the constellations on the ceiling." The projector rotates to show how the stars move around the sky in the course of a full day and night.

Jennifer said she hopes to be either a psychologist or a concert cellist when she grows up. She said she practices the cello just about every day.

Jennifer Gaither

Other exhibits these kids liked included:

• The bathroom that shows how astronauts take a shower in weightlessness.
• The exercise room which includes a stationary bike and then another gadget where astronauts exercise their arms.
• Displays that show how astronauts can figure out what's wrong if their head, arm or back hurt.
• How astronauts measure their height with a sonar device.

For further information about the Planetarium and other Science Center exhibits, just log on to the center's website at www.slsc.org.