Texas Museum of Science & Technology Begins Construction on Central Texas' First Planetarium

After almost 13 years in the making, Central Texans will soon be gazing at the stars from a different perspective; within the area's first planetarium. Assembly is currently underway at the newly opened Texas Museum of Science & Technology (TXMOST),and the new dome is expected to be completed and open for business by mid-September. Additionally, due to popular demand, the Museum will also be holding over Dr. Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS & The Cycle of Life exhibit until November 8, an extension of six weeks.

The new planetarium is a product of Fulldome.Pro, originally a European-based company which is in the process of moving its headquarters to Salt Lake City, Utah. Fulldome.Pro has dozens of domes throughout the world, but the TXMOST planetarium will hold the distinction of being the company's first project on US soil.

"The planetarium has been at the heart of our mission all along," says Torvald Hessel, founder and president of TXMOST. "It's always been confounding to us that Austin, despite being nationally known as a mecca of science and technology in the Southwest, is the 11th largest city in the United States and THE largest without a planetarium. We want it to be a place of discovery, inspiration and learning - open and accessible to all ages," he says. "This is an historic moment for the community, as well as TXMOST. It belongs to all of us."

State-of-the-art technology allows us to connect 8 projectorssimultaneously, delivering a super sharp 4K resolution for a total of more than 12 million pixels using a single server, which is more than 5 times the number of pixels of the "Godzillatron" on the UT campus. Instead of a traditional presenter's console, an iPad interfacecontrols the wireless projection system, which offers mobility for presenters and greater audience interaction, and the system comes equipped with a digital surround sound system. "The result is that when we show the night sky, it will almost look like you're outside under the real sky" says Hessel.

The planetarium is a 33-foot dome that seats up to 50 in comfortable, reclining seats. It uses 'negative pressure technology', meaning that a small vacuum pump is used to evacuate the air between the external structural envelope of the dome and the inner fabric envelope. This negative pressure causes the screen to conform perfectly to the shape of the dome for exceptional projection quality.

At under $200,000, the price of planetarium is a fraction of the cost of traditional domes. Part of this will be paid through an economic development grant from the city of Cedar Park, the museum plans to raise the remainder of the funding through private donors and a fun and unusual community challenge campaign to be announced early next week.

In the meantime, due to popular demand, TXMOST visitors can continue to enjoy six more weeks of the Central Texas premiere ofBODY WORLDS, the groundbreaking anatomical exhibition series that has been seen by 40 million people around the world. In this fascinating exhibit, visitors witness the body through time-as it changes, grows, matures, and ultimately, wanes. Inside the 30,000-square-foot building, the exhibition, which was designed by creative and conceptual designer of BODY WORLDS, Dr. Angelina Whalley, are more than 100 real human specimens, including 18 full-body plastinates.

Since TXMOST's opening in early March, more than 32,000 visitors, including dozens of area schools and teachers have toured the exhibit. "We've been thrilled by the reception both BODY WORLDS and TXMOST have received since our opening. From medical students, to elementary school classes to church groups and families - the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We hope that in these final two months of the exhibit, we not only get many more people who have yet to visit, but also some repeat visitors," Hessel says.

TXMOST is located at 1220 Toro Grande Drive, in Cedar Park just off Whitestone Boulevard (FM 1431) and east of Parmer Lane. Due to space limitations, visitors are encouraged to purchase timed tickets online in advance at www.txmost.org.