Curator Michael Hankins gives a quick tour of the SR-71 Blackbird

ASL STREAM-Oceans Across the Universe (Exploring Space Lecture Series)

ASL STREAM - Earth isn’t the only place in our solar system with oceans, but these oceans aren’t quite what you’re used to here on our home planet. Join Julie Castillo-Rogez from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was she presents on the distribution of oceans across the outer solar system, like those around Jupiter and Uranus. She will discuss what these oceans are made of and how we plan to explore them with on...

Try This at Home: Special Effects

CGI is not the only way to create special effects. In this video we’ll show you how science was used to create the cloud effects featured in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Subscribe and turn on notifications

Storytelling with Andy Weir

Andy Weir’s The Martian became a hit movie starring Matt Damon as astronaut Mark Watney who finds himself stranded on the Red Planet. In this interview Weir discusses character development and offers a few tips on how to become a writer. Subscribe and turn on notifications

The Close Encounters Mothership

Steven Spielberg’s 1977 movie Close Encounters of a Third Kind was made years before CGI (computer generated imaging). In order to create the movie’s incredible visual effect Spielberg assembled a talented team of model makers, videographers, and lighting designers. In this video, Margaret Weitekamp, Chair of the Space History Department, introduces us to the Museum’s model of the MotherShip and talks about the techniques used to make it come alive. ...

Movies: Making Magic - STEM in 30 - Season 11 - Episode 5

There’s a movie out there for almost everyone: sci-fi, horror, comedies, romance, historical fiction, documentaries, you name it. But did you ever wonder what goes into making a movie? Creating a movie takes multiple steps - from imagining characters to writing a story, then filming, editing, producing, and on and on. In this episode, we’ll take a look at what it takes to make a movie, talk to an unlikely author of a hit movie ...

Oceans Across the Universe (Exploring Space Lecture Series)

Earth isn’t the only place in our solar system with oceans, but these oceans aren’t quite what you’re used to here on our home planet. Join Julie Castillo-Rogez from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was she presents on the distribution of oceans across the outer solar system, like those around Jupiter and Uranus. She will discuss what these oceans are made of and how we plan to explore them with ongoing and future mission...