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Narrated by Tom Hanks

Passport to the Universe

Passport to the Universe

Taking audiences on an unforgettable voyage of billions of light-years, Passport to the Universe is an incredible journey from our home planet and the Milky Way galaxy to the edge of the universe. Audiences fly beneath the rings of Saturn, into the heart of the Orion Nebula, and out into the vastness of the observable universe, experiencing these and other stunning cosmic destinations as never before possible. Using real science and cutting-edge technology to create immersive experiences that educate and inspire, Passport to the Universe is an unprecedented virtual tour that takes audiences to the limits of the universe and back again.

Narrated by Tom Hanks.

Passport to the Universe was developed by the American Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

“Science has finally caught up with science fiction.”
– The New York Times

“The experience is literally like nothing on Earth. Who would have thought that astrophysics could ever set your heart racing?”
– The Daily News

May 6, 2016

Select a Date to View

Junior Jetsetters - Interactive Educator Led Program

Friday, May 6, 2016
10:00 am

Our educator led, interactive, full dome programs utilize Uniview, a visualization and simulation software aimed at presenting and teaching astronomy, astrophysics and earth sciences. Our full dome theater is a large-scale immersive environment, featuring realtime digital planetarium, and large-format cinema.

Junior Jetsetters
The night sky is what led humans long ago to wonder what is beyond Earth. Spark your curiosity with an introduction to astronomy. Visitors will look at constellations, hear stories, and practice being an astronaut all while learning basic astronomy vocabulary.

Solar System Tour - Interactive Educator Led Program

Friday, May 6, 2016
11:00 am

Our educator led, interactive, full dome programs utilize Uniview, a visualization and simulation software aimed at presenting and teaching astronomy, astrophysics and earth sciences. Our full dome theater is a large-scale immersive environment, featuring realtime digital planetarium, and large-format cinema.

Solar System Tour
Our Solar System has everything you could want! Planets! Moons! Asteroids! And Comets! All swirling around our one and only star, the Sun. Visitors will learn all the different objects that populate the Solar System and feel the force that keeps worlds spinning.

Mysteries of the Unseen World

Friday, May 6, 2016
12:00 pm

MYSTERIES OF THE UNSEEN WORLD will transport audiences to places on this planet that they have never been before, to see things that are beyond their normal vision, yet literally right in front of their eyes.

Mysteries of the Unseen World will reveal phenomena that can't be seen with the naked eye, taking audiences into earthly worlds secreted away in different dimensions of time and scale.

Viewers will experience events that unfold too slowly for human perception; they will "see" the beauty, drama, and even humor of phenomena of that occur in the flash of a microsecond; they will enter the microscopic world that was once reserved only for scientists, but that Mysteries of the Unseen World makes accessible to the rest of us; they will begin to understand that what we actually see is only a fraction of what there is TO see on this Earth.

High-speed and time-lapse photography, electron microscopy, and nanotechnology are just a few of the advancements in science that now allow us to see a whole new universe of things, events, creatures, and processes we never even knew existed and now give us new "super powers" to see beyond what is in front of us.

Visually stunning and rooted in cutting-edge research, Mysteries of the Unseen World will leave audiences in complete thrall as they begin to understand the enormity of the world they can't see, a world that exists in the air they breathe, on their own bodies, and in all of the events that occur around them minute-by-minute, and nanosecond-by-nanosecond. And with this understanding comes a new appreciation of the wonder and possibilities of science.

Living in the Age of Airplanes

Friday, May 6, 2016
1:00 pm

Living in the Age of Airplanes is a story about how the airplane has changed the world. Filmed in 18 countries across all 7 continents, it renews our appreciation for one of the most extraordinary and awe-inspiring aspects of the modern world.

Living in the Age of Airplanes is narrated by actor and pilot Harrison Ford and features an original score by Academy Award®-winning composer and pilot James Horner (Avatar, Titanic). The film was shot in 95 locations around the globe, from remote places like the South Pole and the Maldives to historically significant sites of ancient civilizations. The narrative weaves together the profound ways that aviation has transformed our lives, connecting countries and cultures while expanding horizons and minds.

Air Racers

Friday, May 6, 2016
2:00 pm

A breathtaking exploration of the fastest race in the world, the documentary film "Air Racers" provides unique insight into the legendary Reno National Championship Air Races.

Narrated by Paul Walker of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, the film takes moviegoers into Northern Nevada’s Valley of Speed to experience, from inside the cockpit, the intensity and high-speed thrills of a sports event like no other, captured for the very first time for the giant screen.

Air racing dates back to 1909, just six years after the Wright Brothers’ inaugural flight. An intrepid young American named Glenn Curtiss won the very first air race in Reims (France) when he completed two laps in 15 minutes with a top speed of 46 mph (75 km/h).

In the Thirties, the sport evolved into multi-pylon air races that were held in Cleveland (Ohio) and Los Angeles (California) before being resurrected in Reno in 1964 by WWII flying ace Bill Stead. The concept remains much the same to this day: pilots fly as low as 50 feet (15 m) above the ground at up to 500 mph (800 km/h) and turn left around an 8.5-mile (13.6 km) oval course marked off by ten giant pylons.

A century later, audiences meet 23-year-old Steve Hinton, a rookie pilot from California whose goal is to perpetuate his two-time National Air Race champion father’s legacy by winning in the most highly anticipated and unpredictable race class, the "Unlimited".

At twice the speed of a Nascar® race, elite pilots fight for position, wingtip-to-wingtip and head-to-head, with Steve Hinton’s WWII-era P-51 Mustang fighter plane in the world’s fastest motorsport.

An action-packed, entertaining and visually stunning film, "Air Racers" is also a unique invitation to discover, from the pits to Reno’s roaring sky, an exceptional world filled with passion, competition and excitement combined with top-notch air show performers, including the Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds.