After more than a year in the making, Clark Planetarium Productions is unveiling its most groundbreaking show since “The Secret of the Cardboard Rocket”! The show is revolutionary on a number of fronts – a modernized look at the solar system with notable appeal to families, schools and the general public…  Detail, color and sharpness like nothing we could ever do before thanks to our new projector system.  A frame rate *double* the pace of a standard movie (meaning:  smooth and sharply defined motion of scenes across the screen!).  Resolution many times beyond HD.  The incredible character performances of the actors also go a long way to enhance the story.

So what is the story?  Imagine the ultimate space vacation!  What if you could travel the galaxy to find that ideal place?  Discover our solar system through a new set of eyes – a family from another star system seeking the perfect vacation spot.  Fly over the surface of Pluto, our best known Dwarf Planet.  Dive over the ice cliffs of Uranus’ moon Miranda.  Sail through the rings of Saturn.  Feel the lightning storms at Jupiter.  And zip by the moons of Mars.  Which destination would you choose?  Take your family on an exploration of some of the best sights of our solar system.  You’ll feel as though you’re there – no 3D glasses required!

Built in our dome for space travelers of all ages. Watch a preview of “Perfect Little Planet.” PLP will play in our Hansen Dome Theatre beginning February 17, 2012. Buy tickets. Running Time: 35 minutes.

“Starry Tales” is very different from the average star show in that it takes a more poetic and philosophical approach. The elaborately detailed 3-dimensional art, deep colors and emotive music track makes for a beautiful cultural experience and lends itself nicely to the holiday season.

The show journeys through thousands of years to reveal Greek legends and their connection to the modern day. It underscores the cultural bond we all share with the stars and demonstrates how that relationship continues.

This program is in our schedule for a limited run (November 18 – January 5) so don’t miss it! We would sincerely welcome your feedback. Check our “Shows and Exhibits” page for show times.

Flying Monsters 3D is a groundbreaking film that uses cutting-edge technology and CGI to bring the story of giant flying monsters and their prehistoric world to life. Two-hundred-and-twenty-million years ago dinosaurs were beginning their domination of Earth. But another group of reptiles was about to make an extraordinary leap: Pterosaurs were taking control of the skies. The story of how and why these mysterious creatures took to the air is more fantastical than any fiction.

Audiences of all ages will be in awe as they enter the world and experience as never before, REAL Flying Monsters – in 3D.

In Starry Tales, experience the Greek constellations and mythology in a captivating new show.Through the elaborately detailed 3-dimensional art of Kagaya Studios, we journey through the starry skies over thousands of years to reveal Greek legends, and their connection to the modern day.  The spectacular colors, poetic stories and moving soundtrack offer a beautiful astronomical experience for the holiday season!

The Show Distribution Assistant is a part-time position designed to assist Clark Planetarium Productions with the distribution of our digital shows and content. Responsibilities include working with our Show Distribution Specialist regarding show information, technical specifications, exhibition agreements and promotional materials. The chosen applicant will process and ship fulldome video content requests, help maintain and organize existing customer sales information through detailed record keeping.

Required knowledge, skills and abilities:

- Skills in audio and video editing and transcoding, graphics and graphic manipulationStrong organizational skills
- Desktop computer skills with ability to learn new software packages in a timely fashion
- Data management skills
- Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing. This includes the ability to convey technical information in layman terms
- Outstanding interpersonal and professional relations skills
- Ability to work effectively in a creative team environment and under strict deadline requirements.
- Ability to think objectively and logically
- Ability to work independently

Minimum Qualifications:

Minimum of one (1) year experience in computer arts, media, database management or other related field.

Sound like you? Send a letter and resume to:

Mike Murray, Programs Manager
Clark Planetarium
110 South 400 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
801-456-4949
Email (preferred)

Position Title: Show Distribution Assistant 19 – 21
Salary: $9.70 hourly (starting)
Job Type: Part-Time, average 20 hours/week
Location: Clark Planetarium
Department: Salt Lake County Community Services

Few mysteries in the universe have the power and awe of the black hole. Only now are we on the verge of understanding their true nature. What are they? How do they form? Are we in danger of being pulled into one?

Uncover the answers to these questions and more in Black Holes.  This immersive digital theater program created by our Clark Planetarium Productions team incorporates some of the most intense three-dimensional visual effects ever created.  Narrated by Star Trek’s John De Lancie, Black Holes lets viewers get up close to one of the most mystifying and astonishing phenomena in the universe.  Journey to the center of a super massive black hole and experience this extreme adventure which takes you to the limits of space and time.

Black Holes is currently playing at 3:30 pm daily in our Hansen Dome Theatre.  Visit our website to purchase tickets or view the trailer.

A detailed look at the evil pirate ship in Attack of the Space Pirates

Attack of the Space Pirates is that show.  It’s a 35-minute feature designed to keep children and adults engaged and entertained as they experience a wild ride through the galaxy on a journey with all of the great sci-fi story elements: mystery, conflict, intrigue, fun, ingenuity, battle, hope and discovery.  It’s our most ambitious digital dome cinema project to date, including amazing sound effects by George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound.

Join the crew of the Starship Intrepid and travel through hyperspace to visit real destinations. You’ll encounter supergiant stars, rogue planets, a black hole and more in your quest to find and assemble a wormhole generator. On your journey, you’ll use real science to help solve the numerous challenges thrown your way. If you survive the dangers of space, a band of pirates will be waiting to take what is yours.  You’ve never experienced an immersive adventure like this!

Bring your family with showings daily.  Visit our website for  more details, the show trailer and show times!

This new show will be a rip-roaring space adventure – the planetarium’s first original astronomy education production incorporating good guys vs. bad guys, blazing lasers and a desperate pursuit among the stars in a do-or-die race to save the galaxy.

We’ve stopped short of sporting eye patches and parrots on our shoulders as we open this show, but we want you to know that high adventure awaits in our Hansen Dome Theatre.

Across the hall in the ATK IMAX Theatre, we’ll be featuring a different kind of space adventure with the opening of Hubble 3D.  Last May NASA astronauts made a visit to the Hubble Space Telescope to give it a major, and final, series of repairs and upgrades.  The Hubble Space Telescope has been accurately described as the single most productive scientific instrument in history.  The list of profound astronomical discoveries made using Hubble is too long to mention in this newsletter.  Trust me, the discoveries made using Hubble are hugely significant to astronomy.  The modifications made to the telescope last year have given this magnificent instrument an additional decade of useful life while at the same time making it roughly ten times more powerful than the Hubble Telescope was when it was first launched twenty years ago.  A 3D IMAX camera was aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis and captured astonishing high-resolution 3D footage of the work performed on the telescope as astronauts ingeniously employed technology and muscle-power to give Hubble a fresh lease on life.  Do NOT miss this movie!

- Seth

Called “LCROSS” for the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, it’s been looping around both the earth and moon for over three months now.  The delicate orbital dance will set LCROSS on the perfect trajectory for a high angle impact into a crater called Cabeus, only 5 degrees latitude up from the south pole of the moon.

Detail view of the targeted impact crater, Cabeus, located near the south pole of the moon.

LCROSS is still attached to its upper stage booster, called the Centaur.  They were left connected on purpose.  Normally the Centaur rocket would be jettisoned after placing its cargo on the right trajectory, but in this case, the Centaur is a key part of the cargo!  Scientists need an “impactor” with enough mass to blast out significant amounts of lunar material high enough to be measured by LCROSS and earth-based observatories.  By scanning this plume of dust and soil, we can measure its composition and find out whether water ice exists in the permanently shadowed craters of the moon.

Illustration representing the Centaur booster's impact. The LCROSS probe will impact just minutes after.

The impact is scheduled to take place about 5:30 a.m. MDT Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.  LCROSS and many other satellites and observatories will be watching.  NASA-TV will be carrying the event live, but there won’t be much to see until photos and video come in from hundreds of sources during Friday and Saturday.

To give you the best possible summary of the mission, I’ll be giving a presentation at Clark Planetarium Saturday afternoon, Oct. 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the Hansen Dome Theatre.  We’ll include as much high resolution imagery and video as we can get our hands on – more than you’ll get to see in any news story or magazine article – and in the most immersive environment available!

Tickets for the presentation at the planetarium are $1 at the ticket window. You can also purchase your online tickets now through our website.  (Note: Tickets purchased online have a $1 processing fee, making each ticket $2.)

I hope to see you this weekend!

Flight to the Moon is Clark Planetarium’s first joint project with the Space Administration. Our production department was chosen for this project largely for our ability to create and distribute scientifically accurate visualizations with strong public appeal. In addition to featuring the 10-minute newsreel in the Hansen Dome Theatre, our production staff will be working to distribute the newsreel to space and educational institutions all across the world.

Flight to the Moon is part of the Night Vision show

You can see Flight to the Moon in conjunction with the Night Vision show which plays at 6:45 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings. Night Vision is a live narrated astronomy show that showcases current events night sky. In addition to learning about the constellations above, the show will provide updates on the LRO/LCROSS mission as it progresses.

LRO/LCROSS is currently set to launch at 1:51 MST on Wednesday, June 17. If you would like to see the launch live (pending there are no delays), the Clark Planetarium will have the NASA TV channel on display in our concessions area – it would be great to have you join us.

One thing I’ve found surprises a lot of people is that the planetarium produces the majority of the shows shown in the Hansen Digital Dome Theater. Mike mentioned earlier how producing our own shows has led to Clark Planetarium programs being featured in planetariums across the U.S. and around the world.

The process for making a show starts with the brainstorming of ideas for what would be a good topic to explore. Sometimes this can be hard because what we consider exciting and strange, the public doesn’t have an interest in. For example, I find Heliophysics to be fascinating. But when you try and pitch to a crowd the physics of the Sun and Earth interacting, that’s a hard sell. So we spend a lot of time surveying the public as well as other planetariums to see what topics they’re interested in. Based off the news headlines, I think good future topics might be dark matter, the greatest explosions throughout the universe, and of course the retirement of the shuttle.

After the topic is chosen, it’s written into a show script. The script will also include visual guidelines to make sure there’s a sense of continuity to the program. Each animator on staff helps contribute to the visual guidance to really give the show a lot of depth.

Now that we have a visual feel to the show, we start making the “assets”. Assets can be surface textures, models, special plug-ins and video. We also spend a lot of time pestering our education department for information. It may be cool to make a long and vibrant comet tail out by Jupiter, but it just wouldn’t be realistic. We try our best to correct for what Hollywood has been teaching for decades.

About the time we’ve gone as far as we can with assets, we’ll get the soundtrack from our sound engineer. He takes a lot of care selecting musical pieces that will fit the mood of the show and give it an over-all theme. The narration is also carefully weaved into the music to give tempo and clarity to the voice acting.

Here’s where the creative side of our minds get to kick in. Sometimes it may be that a 3D scene needs more detail because of the way the narration plays out. It could be that the fitting all the 3D objects into a scene means breaking them up into separate files because of a quirk in the rendering program. It’s like a puzzle. Every problem has a solution, it just might be a bit harder to find.

The process of making these images, which are 42 time the size of an average tv show, can eat up a lot of computer time. Luckily we just upgraded to a new render farm. This render farm was funded through the largess of the Larry Miller Family and made by the great team at Universal Systems. Each machine can process 8 instructions at the same moment, but this has practical limits. So if one part of the render doesn’t use all 8 instruction paths, the render may take much longer. If you added the total of the potential processing speed inside these machines, you get 1.08 trillion.

Once the parts of the image are computed, they write out into individual images. Storing all the component and final images can expand beyond several terabytes. Needless to say, losing any images hinder the production. We compensate by keeping all data in a RAID [redundant array of independent devices].

We are almost there. All the clips get edited together into a master image set. This final master image set goes through a “slicing” process to pull out the parts that will match to each projector in the theater. These slices are then made into 6 master video files.

Through the few years that full-dome video has been around, the process has been through some growing pains because of the rapid nature of technological development. We decided a long time ago not to ride the bleeding edge of technological developments but wait for the “pro-sumer” level for stability and cost savings.

Wow… so that’s a lot to read. I’d be glad to do a Q&A for my next post if anyone has questions, post them to the comments and I’ll clarify the overly lengthy post.

From the basement…

David M