A new planetarium opens this Saturday at The Works in downtown Newark.
The opening of the 2 million dollar-plus SciDome includes free admission and special activities, including an appearance by astronaut and Ohio native Don Thomas. The 30-foot tilted dome and its high-tech systems developed by The Works and Ohio State University took two years to create. OSU spent 600 thousand dollars on the project, with the rest comming from community and other groups. The planetarium will include professional development for teachers and programming for students. Work is also underway to connect SciDome to the International Space Station.