Morehead Planetarium and Science Center

The Morehead Planetarium and Science Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will promote public engagement with science by engaging communities with the scientific, technological, and human dimensions of NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon. Morehead will work with the Institute for Learning Innovation to design, test, and evaluate a strategy for engaging audiences with Artemis-related learning experiences, with a focus on 8–13-year-old youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Informal Science Learning educators. Project activities will include formative research, community focus groups, and pilot programming to develop educational resources that will be implemented at Morehead and shared with museums and science centers throughout North Carolina. The project team will also engage an exhibit developer to prototype interactive moonscape exhibit experiences and a media production company to create programming for the planetarium theater. The project will strengthen institutional capacity to engage audiences and foster collaboration among museums and science centers.