Stars to Shine Brightly on Long Island
Cradle of Aviation to Host Stargazers As Museums at Mitchel Host Astronomy and Space Day

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The Cradle of Aviation Museum will host the Amateur Observers of Long Island as the mysteries of our solar system are explored from 10:00am to 4:00pm, during the first annual Astronomy and Space Day on Saturday, May 10th. The Cradle of Aviation will team with its neighbors, The Long Island Children's Museum and the Long Island Museum of Science and Technology to bring Astronomy & Space Day to Long Island.

"This is the first time that the Long Island museum community has been able to pool its education and recreation activities to co-sponsor an event like this," explained Ed Smits, chief executive officer of the Cradle of Aviation Museum. "Each of the participating facilities has its own unique mission, but we each share the same goal of increasing the educational opportunities and leisure activities for Long Islanders and their children."

Throughout the day, Long Island Children's Museum will feature a family workshop called Planet Prints and Phenomenal Physics programs. The Long Island Museum of Science and Technology will offer Planet Quest programs by Benjamin J. Parris. Using sophisticated solar telescopes, visitors will be able to safely examine the marvels of the sun and the strength of solar light. The Cradle will also display the astronomy projects that Nassau County students entered in the National Science Fair competition.

"We see astronomy as a method to get youngsters involved with technology and involved with science more broadly," said Juliann Gaydos Muller, director of education at the Cradle. "It really is a way of getting young people interested in science in a painless way. People like Einstein, Newton, Galileo -- they got into science through an interest in astronomy."

The Space Society of Long Island will assist older youth to make a paper space shuttle that really flies, and students from East Meadow's Woodland Middle School will display their space shuttle experiments. Younger children are welcome to take part in the Museum's Mars Critter Activity and use their imagination and artistic skills to draw a critter that could survive in a Martian environment.

Visitors to the Cradle will also enjoy the museum's newest feature, the Mars Virtual Voyage. Passengers will experience the thrill and excitement of space exploration during an interactive simulation of a rescue mission of a Mars colony. The new Mission to Mars virtual reality experience allows travelers to exist on Mars because of the introduction of a futuristic device called the Prometheus Generator, fueled by a newly discovered element that has yet to make the Periodic Table of Elements - cerium.

According to Gaydos Muller, "This new exhibit underscores the Cradle's ability to utilize our visitors' imagination to meld science fiction with technology and science fact. The Mars simulation creates a unique multimedia presentation that enhances the understanding of future space exploration to Mars and provides a new generation of American explorers with the means to dream, wonder and achieve."

The Cradle of Aviation Museum and its IMAX® Dome Experience is open seven days a week, 10 am through 5:00 pm. "The Magic of Flight" and "Space Station" play every hour on the hour. The museum is located on Charles Lindbergh Blvd. in Garden City, adjacent to Nassau Community College off of Exit M4 of the Meadowbrook Parkway. For further information, please visit www.cradleofaviation.org.