Field trip enhancements
Inspire your students to pursue STEM through engaging activities and one-of-a-kind experiences. Tour flown spacecraft in our Starship Gallery and discover our STEM experiences in our evening Stars & STEM program.
STARSHIP GALLERY TOURS
- Topics: History of space exploration, rocketry, planetary geology
- Suggested level: All levels
Tours must be booked at least four (4) weeks in advance.
STEM CLASSROOM EXPERIENCES
Rocketry
Students investigate Newton’s Laws of Motion and rocketry by completing their mission of a safe and successful launch. Teams will design, build and launch rockets and collect data on the rocket’s flight trajectory and distance. The young engineers will then modify their designs to make their rockets go further and/or change trajectory.- Topics: Teamwork, engineering design, Newton’s laws of force and motion
- Suggested level: Foam rockets: 4-12
- Related center exhibits: Mission Mars, Starship Gallery, Rocket Park
Sessions must be booked at least four (4) weeks in advance.
NEUTRAL BUOYANCY LAB (NBL) TOURS
- Topics: Space exploration training, gravity, Archimedes principle
- Suggested level: All levels
- Related center exhibits: Living in Space, Independence Plaza
Please note that the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is not on Space Center Houston property, and transportation is the responsibility of the group. The group must travel together in a bus or van. Please call with any issues or questions on transportation.
Groups of more than 50 people may have to split into multiple tours. Groups should meet your Space Center Houston guide at the Guest Services Desk at Space Center Houston 30 minutes before your tour time.
Tours must be booked three (3) more weeks in advance.
SPACE CENTER HOUSTON PLANETARIUM
The Space Center Houston Planetarium full dome theater is able to provide an immersive, engaging and relevant educational outreach experience for kindergarten through 12th grade students. Inside the dome, students are able to see and explore galaxies/solar systems.
The portable planetarium is designed to provide students with the ability to see the wonders of the night sky devoid of light pollution, gain an understanding of our planet Earth and learn about characteristics and exploration of the grand universe.
The planetarium is an inflatable dome capable of accommodating approximately 25 kindergarten through fourth grade students or 20 middle to high school students per showing. Tours of more than 25 must be split into multiple groups.
The Space Center Houston Planetarium experience costs $5 per student/chaperone. Presentations are available Monday through Friday only, offered at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m.