New planetarium show puts audience in center of extreme storms

CONTACT: Lia Unrau
PHONE:
(713) 348-6778
EMAIL: unrau@rice.edu

NEW PLANETARIUM
SHOW PUTS AUDIENCE IN CENTER OF EXTREME STORMS

Imagine feeling the
force of a major hurricane up close, seeing the power that a tornado unleashes
as it swirls around you and experiencing the eruptions of solar flares on the
surface of the sun.

The latest in computer
animation is bringing a force 5 hurricane, a violent tornado and an explosive
solar storm to the Houston Museum of Natural Science starting June 8, allowing
audiences to step inside the storms, creating a sense of how it would look and
feel if you were standing amidst the fury. A special kickoff event will be held
June 15.

At the Burke Baker
Planetarium, the 22-minute “Force 5” – the world’s first Earth and space science
full-dome computer animated show – will feature storms created from real movies
and NASA-based images.

“Planetariums generally
allow the audience to look up and out at the sky,” says Patricia Reiff,
professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and collaborator on the
show. “With Force 5, we invite theater-goers to turn and look down at the Earth
from above, and we put you inside the storm – you get to experience everything
short of the raindrops.”

Force Five is funded by
NASA’s Museums Teaching Planet Earth project at Rice University and by the Image
Spacecraft Mission, on which Reiff is conducting experiments. The show is
produced by the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Sybil Media. Following its
debut in Houston, the show will travel to planetariums worldwide.

Contact: Patricia Reiff,
professor of space physics and astronomy, at 713-348-4634,
reiff@rice.edu.

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