Chabot Space and Science Center

On Sunday, May 22nd, Frank and I took Alex to the Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland hills. It is about an hour away tucked among the trees. We initially missed our exit and began our outing navigating narrow, winding roads as we approached the complex from a direction other than planned. No problem. Alex loves car rides. Once inside, our first stop was the planetarium to see how Alex would like the experience. Shows of varying durations from 12 minutes to 45 minutes cover a variety of topics. A short 12 minute one on the universe was playing when we arrived. It was swirls and motion throughout the stars and asteroids and planets to far reaches of galaxies projected in an artistic, colorful, soothing style. Alex was mesmerized by it. Frank and Alex posed at the mural on the outer wall. We took in two other shows later in the day. One was on astronauts and geared for a younger audience. Shortly before leaving we watched another about future missions to the moon.

After the show, we got oriented with a map and ate lunch outdoors. The complex is arranged in three levels, the cafe and the patio are Level 1, the lowest. I hesitate to say "ground" level because the center is tucked into a hillside and topography is such that "ground" can be at any elevation.  The weather was gorgeous; we could not have asked for better.

Shortly before crossing the sky bridge on Level 2 toward the Dellums Building we came upon a blue globe. It looked like the earth without any continents but with a polar ice cap at the top. When Alex spun it, the fluid inside undulated in pretty waves and ripples. It was quite unique and soothing to watch. In its surface, it reflected us standing nearby as well as all the sunlight streaming in from the surrounding windows.

At the other end of the sky bridge was an interactive exhibit explaining the phases of the moon. Alex appreciated the rotating riding aspect of it.

We continued on into a large room themed with habitat building for Mars. At its entrance were large LEGO type bricks; Alex spent a fair amount of time building with them.

Farther back along the wall was a display for building a habitat and testing it for its ability to survive during a quake on Mars. Alex really got into the building part, not so much the shaking part. Frank initially showed him how to build with the wooden timbers and then Alex was gung-ho to go at it all by himself. He pulled up a chair to make himself comfortable while building. His attention span for this activity was so long that Frank and I had to pull up chairs also and wait him out!

Opening out onto Level 3 were two domes and a rectangular shed that housed three telescopes. We did not spend much time here. Not being night, we decided we were not trained enough to see anything. After reading an Optics Trade article titled Can a Telescope be Used During the Day, I learned that

 Thinking that watching the sky during the day is restricted to birds and clouds is also missing out on some incredible sights.

Besides as we went into each shed or dome Alex gravitated to the nearest seat. He was saturated and tired so we headed out to retrace our steps and leave for the day.

We stopped at the cafe for a snack and to recharge my cell phone. I wanted to be sure to have directions on the way home and not repeat our indirect arrival route by some random circuitous pathway.

Our final activity was a sedentary one, a final 35 minute long planetarium show, titled Forward to the Moon.

 Kari Byron from Crash Test World and MythBusters launches us on a journey beyond the Earth towards a sustainable future in space. NASA’s 21st century Artemis program, named after the Greek moon Goddess and twin of Apollo, is the next step in our mission to explore the universe and land the first woman and person of color on the surface of the Moon. [7 minute trailer]

Fortunately we had an uneventful, direct, drive home. The day's outing had been an enjoyable one. Frank and I had taken a chance that the Chabot Space and Science Center would appeal to Alex and it had. Success! We would definitely go there again.