The Cernan Earth and Space Center is a public

planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetarium ...

on the campus of

Triton College Triton College is a public community college in River Grove, Illinois. History Junior College District 300 was voted into existence in a referendum in March 1964. In March 1965, a second referendum was passed approving the purchase of an campus ...

in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburb of River Grove. It is named for astronaut

Eugene Cernan Eugene Andrew Cernan (; March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human being to ...

(1934-2017), who flew aboard the

Gemini 9 Gemini 9A (officially Gemini IX-A) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1966 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the seventh crewed Gemini flight, the 13th crewed American flight ...

and

Apollo 10 Apollo 10 (May 18–26, 1969) was a human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second (after Apollo8) to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing, and ...

missions and, as commander of

Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...

, was the last astronaut to leave his footprints on the Moon. The Cernan Center's 93-seat dome theater housing a Konica-Minolta Super MediaGlobe II fulldome digital projector, a Voyager V-17OWC laser projection system, and numerous auxiliary projectors. Using this equipment, the Cernan Center presents a wide range of programs to persons of all ages who attend its special school and group presentations and weekend public programs. One Saturday night each month, the Cernan Center offers a ''Monthly Skywatch'' program that presents the latest news and discoveries in the fields of astronomy, space science, and geoscience. The Cernan Center also features Earth- and space-related exhibits, the Friends of the Cernan Center membership program, and the Star Store gift shop.

References

External links

Cernan Earth and Space Center Home Page
Planetaria in the United States Museums in Cook County, Illinois Science museums in Illinois Gene Cernan {{Chicago-stub