Planetarium at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. Courtesy/NMMNHS
NMMNHS News:
Sally’s Night, a national celebration of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Sally Ride’s first spaceflight. At New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS), this celebration includes family-friendly, space-themed activities 2-5 p.m., including worksheets, hands-on projects, and 360-degree virtual reality tours provided by NASA at Home. Museum educator Jayne Aubele will be demonstrating Venus mapping projects.
The fun continues into the evening with a showing of the feature film Hidden Figures (2016) at 6 p.m. in the Planetarium, Powered by META as part of the museum’s Science Fiction or Fact? Series. Hidden Figures highlights African American women who worked as mathematicians for NASA during the Space Race. After the movie, a panel will review the featured film for scientific and historical accuracies and inaccuracies in an open forum that encourages audience participation.
The event coincides with the final weekend of the Museum’s Roving With Perseverance exhibition, which showcases full-size replicas of NASA’s Perseverance Rover and Ingenuity Helicopter. The exhibition is slated to close Monday, June 5.
This event is included 2-5 p.m. with Museum and Planetarium Admission. The evening portion is generously made possible by the Smithsonian. This project received Federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
Dr. Sally K. Ride, the first American woman in space. Dr. Ride lived her life with extraordinary energy, passion, curiosity, and joy. Whether in the classroom or on the tennis court, in the lab or on the launch pad—it was clear from the start that Sally would reach great heights.
Sally’s Night is a nationwide celebration of women in STEM led by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. The celebration honors Sally Ride’s legacy as an astronaut, physicist, educator, and advocate for young people. In recognition of the 40th anniversary of Sally Ride becoming the first American woman in space, over 20 organizations across the United States will hold events focusing on women and underrepresented genders in science, technology, engineering and math.
More information can be found at airandspace.si.edu/sallysnight.