STAR TECH: RENOVATION OF ST. LOUIS PLANETARIUM GIVES IT A TRUE OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD FEEL

ST. LOUIS -- Blast off into space when you arrive at the newly renovated James S. McDonnell Planetarium at the St. Louis Science Center in Forest Park.

That's the idea. Everything from the floor to ceiling has been renovated to look like it would if you were living and working aboard a space station.

The renovations were part of a $13 million project that focuses on space, astronomy and the environment. The Planetarium will re-open to the public Friday afternoon with a free concert, ice cream social and fireworks display.

"Whatever you knew before you should forget," said Bev Pfeifer-Harms, communications director.

Everything is different from the location of the entrance to the exhibits. "There's a lot of interactivity" so that children and families don't just come to listen but to learn, Pfeifer-Harms said.

If you're looking for an educational field trip this summer, the planetarium is the place to go. The exhibits will appeal to every member of the family, parents included.

The trip starts from the first floor in the skyport, a hallway that leads to the star shuttle, which is really an elevator converted to look like a craft used in a space launch. There are plenty of flashing buttons and switches to grab the attention of younger visitors.

A short trip in the shuttle takes visitors to the star chamber, where the first view is of thousands of stars and planets, all of them projected from a Zeiss Universarium projector. The sky looks like it would at night from the sky over St. Louis. Other locations, seasons and directions can be programmed into the projector for a different view of the heavens.

The projector is one of only four in the nation and can project 9,100 stars using fiber optics. All presentations at the planetarium's star chamber will be live, not recorded as they were previously, Harms said.

When visitors head away from the platform, they'll circle the dome looking at new exhibits. The first is the communications room, which tells visitors about the challenges of communicating in space. Exhibits also explain radio waves and satellite positioning. Near communications is a display on power -- and how it is created in space under little gravity.

Exhibits show free fall using a weightless hockey puck and explain how the planets orbit and transform energy.

Another section leads to space exploration, where children can piece together puzzles of the planets and see images of the solar system taken from the Explorer, Voyager and Pioneer probes.

A robotic training arm will simulate the challenge astronauts face when trying to work in space. Visitors must use the arm to pick up colored cubes and match them to a base. One of the arms can even be operated from a remote site.

Another wall in this room is full of exhibits about the planets and what they're made of. A pull the handles provide a glimpse into their core. At another station, selecting a moon and you'll learn more about its home planet and diameter.

Visitors can even use the Internet to track some space exploration. Click on a screen to learn more about the Galileo, Ulysses, Voyager or Stardust projects, or see images from Mars as they've been photographed by NASA. Click on the Mars missions button for all the details.

The astronomical research area highlights galaxy classifications, star tracking and images taken by the Hubble telescope.

In the lower level there are more sights of the skies in the star bay, the environmental lab, crew quarters and nutritional and medical labs. Here you can learn about what it's like to live in space -- eating a meal (and how food preparation evolved in space), taking a shower or exercising.

The crew quarters also has an exhibit on the clothes astronauts wear in space. The wardrobe has to be nonflammable, fit properly and function -- pockets have Velcro so nothing slips out and slipper socks to make sure that astronauts don't slide around in the shuttles.

From the crew quarters, visitors can catch a ride back to Earth on the star shuttle and await your next space voyage.

Theater offers a big voyage As part of your visit to the planetarium, head off on another voyage at the OMNIMAX theater in the science center.

The film "Cosmic Voyage" will air daily through Sept. 3. Tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for children and senior adults.

It blends technology and computer-generated images to take you through the universe. You begin the voyage in Venice, Italy, where Galileo Galilei developed the telescope. From there you head far into space nearly 15 billion light-years from Earth, before you plummet back, to see a tour through carbon atoms and quarks, the smallest part of matter.

You'll feel the "big bang" as the 35-minute movie takes into the depths of the universe to show you how black holes function and new galaxies begin.

The film alternates show times with "Michael Jordan to the Max."

Call 1 (800) 456-SLSC or visit the Web site at www.slsc.org for show times.