McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center

Concord, NH is a short drive from Lake Winnipesukee, so we decide to spend an afternoon there after visiting the UPS store to ship a few items to the grandkids. The clerks unanimously tell us that the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center on the campus of the New Hampshire Institute of Technology is the hottest ticket in town.

'The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center is an air and space science center located in Concord, New Hampshire on the NHTI campus, named after Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and Alan Shepard, the first American in space. The Discovery Center focuses on providing the latest in astronomy, engineering, Earth and space sciences, while also honoring the memories of Christa McAuliffe and Alan Shepard, who were both New Hampshire citizens.
The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center offers a full-sized replica of a Mercury-Redstone rocket, interactive exhibits in astronomy and Earth and space sciences, a planetarium theater (the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, which was built long before the Discovery Center), a rooftop observatory, an expanded science store, and the Countdown Café.'

The planetarium show on black holes is fascinating and informative, although way above my pay-grade! Hope there's not going to be a quiz!The exhibits are user-friendly, hands-on and interactive.

My kind of place! I crash the LEM and the Space Shuttle on every attempt, except on the Novice levels! Joy sticks are not a joy to me...guess coordination helps!

Telescopes are set up for visitors to observe sunspots and solar flares. Amazing! The tiny specks of pepper that are the sunspots are the size of Earth! Wow!

Pretending that we were Extra Terrestrials visiting the museum was the most fun for me, and Mike, too, I think!

   Would you look at the BIG brain on Mike!

As a former teacher, I am always happy to see that there are so many learning opportunities out there for kids! Especially Big Kids like Mike and me!