“CAPCOM GO! The Apollo Story,” a 2019 planetarium film produced by the National Space Centre will premiere at the RBHS planetarium on Dec. 14 at 10 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Tickets were available for reservation, but because of high demand, they sold out 24 hours after the release for all three shows. The movie focuses on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Apollo program, a spaceflight expedition that successfully landed the first humans on the moon on July 16, 1969. This past summer was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, resulting in the creation of “CAPCOM GO! The Apollo Story” which covers the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States in the mid-1950s. The premiere features a full show on the dome, followed by a star tour from the star ball, planetarium director Meaghann Stoelting said. A spherical mirror projects the film across the large dome in the planetarium, and exhibits a night sky for the star ball display.

“[The star ball] is original to RBHS, and we keep it underneath [a protective case] because it’s very old and it would be very, very costly to replace it,” Stoelting said. “But we bring it up on its elevator [for the shows], and then we do a star tour [from the special] lamp inside of it.”

The “CAPCOM GO! The Apollo Story” premiere attracted viewers both because of the star tour and the film itself. CPS Board of Education member Jonathan Sessions is an avid proponent of the planetarium and looks forward to the show on Saturday. After learning about the show from twitter, Sessions watched the movie’s trailer on the “CAPCOM GO! The Apollo Story” website and said the topic is of interest to him.

“This is a great opportunity for the community and the public to come and be in one of the schools and see this great program,” Sessions said. “It just it seemed like a cool thing, so I thought I’d come.”

The RBHS planetarium was built one year after the school opened in 1974, and is a special resource for students. Senior Jack Stevens takes the astronomy class at RBHS, but he said it only benefits the few who choose the course and wishes the planetarium was open to more students during the day.

“The planetarium is amazing because you can see the stars during the day time, which is extremely helpful to astronomy kids,” Stevens said. “But I think a lot of others want to experience it too.”

He said he believes the planetarium offers opportunities to learn about outer space for those who want to pursue the subject. Stevens is very passionate about astronomy, and said other students should have access to and use the same resources he has with the planetarium. 

“There are millions of stories about the skies and tales of adventure in outer space,” Stevens said. “And there’s also a lot of history to learn too, lots of famous astronomers and their predictions of the skies.”

While Stevens is a student supporter of the planetarium, Rex Beltz, the astronomy teacher at RBHS, said he believes it is an invaluable resource. The dome allows them to view stars and constellations during the day, while also learning concepts such as circumpolar. Along with his astronomy class, Beltz takes his GeoScience, Oceanography and Biology students to the planetarium when the shows correspond with their curriculum.  

“It provides us the opportunity for a dynamic experience to reinforce all the vague concepts that we discuss in astronomy,” Beltz said. “My students like planetarium days, and some feel like the whole class should be nothing but going to the planetarium.”

The planetarium is rare resource, as it is one of the four in Missouri that offer astronomy programs. The films, Sessions said, are provided for the people in Columbia to enjoy a unique star-gazing experience in their neighborhood.

“Often when I share with community members that we have a planetarium, they’re surprised and they’re unaware that our district has a planetarium in one of our buildings,” Sessions said. “So it’s often like one of those little hidden gems that I get to share with the community.”

How valuable to the community do you think the RBHS planetarium is?  Let us know in the comments below.