Portable Planetarium Brings Outer Space To Newark School’s Gym

NEWARK, NJ — It’s called “The Skylab,” a 20-foot inflatable dome that serves as a portable planetarium. And thanks to a program offered by the Newark Museum, grade 5-8 students at the KIPP NJ TEAM Academy got a uniquely enriching view of space from the inside of their own school.

Museum staff recently set up the huge dome – which seats about 25 students – in the gymnasium of the KIPP NJ TEAM Academy on Custer Avenue. Students were treated to a program titled “Constellations Tonight,” which took them on a tour of the night sky and its constellations.

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“We know that our students can go to the museum, but bringing the field trip to your school is something special,” said Nikeya Stuart, a 5th grade teacher at the academy. “Providing our students with access to this unique resource supports and builds on the lessons they’re learning in the classroom and may even inspire some future astronomers.”

Zakee, a 5th grader at the academy, agreed that the dome was a “really cool, once in a lifetime experience.”

“We got to see all the planets and stars that appear during the winter time,” the young astronomer said. “You don’t always get to see that in the city because of the light pollution.”

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Photos courtesy of KIPP NJ TEAM Academy