What's Going On?

Launch P.A.D. Gallery

Launch P.A.D. (Professional Academic Directions) is a new set of exhibits about space exploration, looking at how mankind might plan on getting to Mars someday. Exhibits explore structures that might be used for building Moon or Mars colonies, the physics of launching a rocket, radiation testing, ion thrusters for steering a space ship, and 4 other hands-on exhibits. You can also learn more about most of the objects in our solar system, including those hot new dwarf planets Eris and Ceres!

Funded by NASA monies through the Indiana Space Grant Consortium, this exciting new of  series of exhibits also looks at space-related careers that young people can pursue today to be a part of the future-the colonization and exploration of planets outside the Earth!

This Gallery is available for Indiana Space Grant Consortium members for use in their institutions. Other agencies may also rent this gallery of hands-on exhibits at a low cost. Contact Shane Pickett for more information on getting this exhibit at your institution.

Fred, the Buesching Mastodon

Our new mastodon exhibit has 17 interactive stations to explore, looking at the story of what may have happened to all the mastodons after the last ice age. What was happening around them as they became extinct? Did humans hunt them, and if so, enough to kill them all off? What tools were people using to hunt 14,000 years ago? Did mastodons have other predators, or did their food supply dwindle? How big are mastodons, and what kind of bones did they have? Did Fred sink into a tar pit? These questions, and many more, are addressed as visitors explore this exciting new exhibit, now on permanent exhibition at Science Central!

BackPack Adventures

Science Central is now offering a new Backpack Program!  Free with admission, backpacks can be checked out at the front desk and used during your visit.  Topics include half-pint, weather, observation, physics, geology and measurement, more to be added!  These backpacks contain lots of extra activities that can be worked on at the designated BackPack Stations throughout the museum.  Try one out today, then tell us what you think!