On Tuesday, the Museum got a visit from some of the stars of its newest exhibition.
NASA astronauts Michael Massimino and John Grunsfeld, crew members on mission STS-125 to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, joined Curator Michael Shara for a Q&A in the Cullman Hall of the Universe on Tuesday, November 15. The astronauts’ repair mission is featured in one of the dioramas of the Museum’s special exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration, which opens Saturday, November 19, and is curated by Dr. Shara.
Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson emceed the event and fielded questions from the audience and Twitter as over 1,000 viewers tuned into the live stream of the Q&A on amnh.org. Read more »
The Museum’s upcoming exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Explorationfeatures some spectacular technologies and missions—from a space elevator to the terraforming of Mars—that have been the staple of science fiction for the last 50 years, inspiring generations of students. Today, what was once limited to the realm of science fiction is being discussed by leading researchers and engineers as not-too-distant possibilities.
And so, for the first time ever, the Museum is headed to New York Comic Con (October 13 through October 16), this weekend’s highly anticipated convention. Our booth will feature a preview of Beyond Planet Earth and a mini-planetarium where visitors can enjoy a flight through the universe narrated by Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson, with visualizations based on the Digital Universe Atlas, an authentic map of the observable cosmos maintained at the Museum.
On Saturday, October 15, Beyond Planet Earth curator Michael Shara will host a panel and screening at Comic Con to discuss what the movies have gotten right—and wrong—about space travel and technology.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, was named one of the world’s 140 most influential tweeters by Time this week in the magazine’s list of individuals and companies whose Twitter feeds are “shaping the conversation,” from politicians and celebrities to businesses like Starbucks and JetBlue Airways.
Tyson, who tweets as @neiltyson and has 130,000 followers, was one of 10 tweeters recognized in the Health and Science category, which also includes institutions such as the New York Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, the British medical journal The Lancet,and writer Michael Pollan.
Can the entire universe be explained with a single, unifying theory? This is perhaps the most fundamental question in all of science, and it may also be the most controversial.
The 2011 Isaac Asimov Memorial debate, moderated by Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson, featured a compelling discussion with six of the world’s leading voices on the subject: Dr. Katherine Freese, professor of physics at the University of Michigan; Dr. Jim Gates, professor of physics at the University of Maryland-College Park; Dr. Janna Levin, professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College; Dr. Marcello Gleiser, professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College; Dr. Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University; and Dr. Lee Smolin, theoretical physicist at Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Click below for a video or to download a podcast of the debate, which took place at the Museum on March 7, 2011.
Can scientists stop an asteroid that’s on a collision course with earth? In this episode of SciCafe, Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson answers this question during a casual conversation about stars, planets, and the universe.
Recorded at the American Museum of Natural History on June 2, 2010.
Can scientists stop an asteroid that’s on a collision course with earth? In this episode of SciCafe, 
