Planetarium Shows
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Planetarium tickets are an add-on to general admission tickets.
You must purchase general admission tickets in addition to your planetarium tickets.
Under The Dome Shows
The Planetarium Has Been Updated
In late 2022, we began our planetarium upgrade by partnering with SSIA Technologies to update our servers, software, and audio systems to the latest technology. In addition, we installed brand new carpets, seating, and state-of-the-art 10k projectors. We’re proud to be one of four planetariums in North America with these high-resolution projectors!
Our donors and Corporate Members made this project possible. Thank you
Freedom Energy Logistics Adopts Planetarium at McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center
In an exciting new partnership to make new discoveries in astronomy and space science accessible to New Hampshire families and visitors to the Granite State, Freedom Energy Logistics of Auburn, NH, has adopted our planetarium theater.
“We are delighted to play a part in encouraging those of all ages to engage in leading-edge science in the museum dedicated to New Hampshire space pioneers Christa McAuliffe and Alan Shepard,” notes Bart Fromuth. “I will never forget my first visit to the planetarium as a student on a school field trip. The experience was transformative. As a father, I want that experience for my children. As a business leader, I want to encourage students of all ages to engage in science, technology, engineering, and math at the Discovery Center’s Freedom Energy Logistics Planetarium and be inspired to pursue careers in these fields.”
The Freedom Energy Logistics Planetarium originally opened in 1990 in a facility named the “Christa McAuliffe Planetarium”. In 2009, the original organization quadrupled in size, expanded its mission to include both Christa McAuliffe and her hero, Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and reopened as a 45,000-square-foot, two-story science museum. Its name was legally changed in April 2009 from the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center. From 2009-2011, five key areas and several exhibits in the new museum were adopted by community-oriented corporations. The new three-year partnership between Freedom Energy Logistics and the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center has reopened the possibility of adopting and naming additional key spaces and activities in the center, ranging from a board room to a major function room to a science playground. Interested companies and individuals are invited to contact Executive Director, Melissa Edwards at the Discovery Center for more information.