Museum hosts
Mars-marveling
party tomorrow
Bishop Museum is sponsoring "Mars Madness" tomorrow night to celebrate the red planet's arrival at a point closer to Earth than it has been for 59,617 years -- a mere 34.7 million miles away.
A "Mars Fair" will begin at 8 p.m. and continue until midnight at the Bishop Museum Planetarium and Great Lawn, 1525 Bernice St., with a wide variety of programs running continuously. Those who attend can move from event to event. The cost is $3 per person or $10 for a family of four.
In the planetarium, Bishop Museum's "Red Planet Mars" movie will be shown, and the planetarium dome will be opened so the public can view Mars through the telescope.
On the Great Lawn, other giant telescopes will be provided for public use by the Hawaii Astronomical Society.
There also will be demonstrations of the capabilities of the Mars Rover and how it will be used on Mars next year.
Two Mars Rovers are on their way to Mars, one launched in June and the other in July. Both are expected to land and begin exploring the planet in January, according to Bishop Museum producer Caroline Kaichi.
In the StarLab, readers will tell stories about Mars from a variety of cultures.
A similar program is scheduled for invited guests tonight at the opening of Chaminade University's new Wiegand Observatory.
