More than 1,500 fans and friends joined WKAR and Abrams Planetarium at the MSU MoonFest in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.
Throughout the weekend of July 19 to 21, the community enjoyed free activities, from making space headbands and creating rockets, to discovering their space weight and learning about meteorites. PBS KIDS fans also had the chance to meet and take pictures with Luna from Let’s Go Luna.
Local partners that participated in the festivities included Impression 5 Science Center, MSU Broad, Capital Area District Library, MSU Extension, MSU Science Festival, MSU Observatory and Abrams Planetarium.
"This was an amazing event for our planetarium,” said Shannon Schmoll, director of Abrams Planetarium.
As a celebration of the first moon landing, the MSU MoonFest included a special Pop-Up Stories event featuring moon-inspired stories and memories of the historic moon landing as told by Lansing-area storytellers.
“What a night,” said Scott Pohl, WKAR Radio News reporter. “[We] heard intriguing and funny stories about the first steps on the moon from small town America to London to Vietnam.”
In addition to Pop-Up Stories, Abrams Planetarium had a full house all weekend long for their shows We Are Stars and Imagine the Moon.
“Never before have we had that many people through our doors in one weekend.” said Schmoll. “It was a chance for us to share our love of astronomy with our larger community in a fun and exciting way."
MSU MoonFest was a collaboration between WKAR and Abrams Planetarium as part of the PBS Summer of Space campaign, a multiplatform experience centered on the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.
To view more pictures from the festival, visit the WKAR Facebook page.