Planetarium Features Show on Mars

A show on Mars, the red planet, will open at the Texas A&M University-Commerce Planetarium on Friday, Sept. 12.

Shows will be at 7 and 8 p.m. each Friday night with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame the first Friday of the month featuring classic rock music at 9 p.m.

“Invaders of Mars” features Earth’s various spacecraft invaders of Mars. Viewers will see the chasms, canyons and volcanoes, descend amid the ice of the Martian polar cap and be buffeted by swirling dust devils.

The “invaders” also found that storms sometimes engulf Mars.

The show on Mars will be presented on Fridays through Nov. 7 with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame the first Fridays of the month.

Admission to the shows is $3 for those under 18 and A&M-Commerce students with ID, $3.50 for university employees and senior citizens, and $4 for all others. A discount of $1 per person will be offered if tickets are purchased at the same times for two shows viewed on the same day.

Each planetarium show begins with brief remarks by a member of the planetarium staff, who presents a tour of the Commerce night sky on the planetarium’s 40-foot dome and points out the current visible constellations, stars, and planets.

The audiences see the shows using the planetarium’s state-of-the-art Digistar 3, an all-digital projection system. Viewers enjoy immersive theater viewing with tilted seats and 10-speaker surround sound during the shows, which last about an hour.

A recorded message of the schedule and further show information can be accessed at 903-468-8652. Reservations can be made in advance by calling 903-468-8650.