Globe theatre - Digital immersive Earth and Space Productions

Sumners, C., and P. H. Reiff

The "Museums Teaching Planet Earth" project (http://earth.rice.edu), funded
by NASA's Office of Earth Science as part of the "Earth Science Information
Partners" program, brings Earth and Space data via the internet to museums
and schools. MTPE, an outgrowth of the "Public Connection" program, is a
partnership between scientists, educators, and museum staff. The latest
success of the program is creating digital immersive planetarium shows
featuring Earth and Space science data and imagery. The first such theater in
the world, the Houston Museum of Natural Science's digital theatre in the Burke
Baker Planetarium opened December 1998 with its show "Cosmic Mysteries".
The first Earth science show opened January 2000: "Powers of Time", which
showed the cycles of Earth and how recognizing cycles helps us predict the
future. The sister "Earth Theater" opened in November 1999 at Carnegie
Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, with its sister show called "the
Millennium Show". In November 2000 "Force 5" opens, which brings the viewers
into the major destructive powers of hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, and
space storms in full-dome digital format. This paper demonstrates the exciting
products and shows produced by the MTPE project, bringing Earth and Space
Science data to the public in entertaining as well as educational venues. 

_______________
Presented at the Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting, 
San Francisco, CA., December 15-19, 2000