Mars Exhibit Debuts at The Children's Museum

“We wanted to increase our focus on planetary and earth science. Mars is topical, and it’s our next frontier,” said Kristie Mazzoni, planetarium director for in West Hartford.

Mazzoni was part of a team of Children’s Museum staffers who helped secure a three-year Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums grant from NASA, worth more than $500,000, for the museum’s “Blue Planet, Red Planet” exhibit that opened on March 23.

The exhibit's interactive components, such as the motion-capturing visual interface display, make it engaging for a target audience used to technology – students in grades four through eight. The NASA grant will allow the Children’s Museum to offer free admission to the general public on the fourth Wednesday of every month, from 3 p.m.-6 p.m., for the next three years. In addition to the permanent exhibit, “Mars Monthly Wednesdays” will also feature associated space-related activities and planetarium programs.

Mazzoni, who has been closely involved with all facets of this project, wrote the text for the displays, supervised its construction, voiced many of the video segments, and acts as liaison with the museum’s partner organization – Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. The entire project encompasses not only the exhibit, but also the existing movie “Invaders of Mars,” a new Mars movie still in development, and educational outreach programs – both at The Children’s Museum and in schools – which will reach students all over the state.

“The grant will allow us to produce our own planetarium show, and we will be one of a handful of small museums with that capability,” said Joan Gurski, marketing director for the Children’s Museum. That new show, “From the Blue Planet to the Red Planet,” is expected to debut later this year or in early 2012.

“Part of the grant includes as a priority the goal of expanding science to certain districts,” said Mazzoni. The Children’s Museum is working on partnerships with priority districts such as New Britain, Bristol, Bloomfield, Manchester, East Hartford, Hartford, and Waterbury. Teacher training will be provided, and even the cost of substitutes to cover classrooms during that training is included in the grant. Teachers in grades four through eight will be involved.

Peter Claffey, director of exhibits and facilities for the Children’s Museum, pointed out components of the exhibit, which includes a timeline beginning in the 8th Century B.C., when Mars was first documented, and ending in 2018, when a mission to Mars is anticipated. Kyra Elliott, Assistant Planetarium Director, demonstrated the virtual reality exhibit, using the motion-capturing technology to control the display with her outstretched hand.

The exhibit also includes a greenhouse, where visitors will be able to see the difference between seeds growing in typical Earth soil and simulated Mars soil.

Children visiting the museum seemed engrossed, and even those younger than the target audience quickly figured out how to use the motion-capturing technology. Four-year-old Milo Rozza of West Hartford said he’d like to go to Mars one day, but appreciates the complexity of that mission. “I don’t have a rocket to blast off in,” he said.

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