NASA ambassador visits WonderLab

After a two-day delay due to bad weather, Bloomington's WonderLab museum hosted an official NASA Solar System Ambassador, Dan Cervantes, to present a telescopic view of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. \nAs children lined up to look at each of the three planets through a telescope, Cervantes answered the children's questions about the planets. \n"I chose this week to volunteer because five of the planets are in the sky right now and three of them will be in really good view on a clear night like this one," Cervantes said. \n"This is a great opportunity for the public to look at several of the planets that are in good viewing right now," said Karen Innes, the associate executive director of WonderLab. "(The people who attended) get the opportunity to see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and maybe Mars, too, through a really good telescope."\nCervantes also spent the evening giving updates on NASA space missions. He spoke about two missions NASA has planned for this year: the first to Venus and the next to Saturn. The mission to Saturn will begin July 1 and last nearly four years. \n"Saturn's moon, Titan, has an atmosphere that is dense, which means it has potential for life," Cervantes said. "They are going to land on the moon and try to see if Saturn may have life."\nCervantes was recently approved by NASA to work as an ambassador to increase the public's knowledge of the planets and solar system. \n"I am a NASA solar system ambassador that helps with public outreach," Cervantes said. "We try to make the public aware of NASA's missions, give them some knowledge about the solar system, too."\nInnes thought the event was a success given the turnout of people who attended.\n"Since this week's event sparked such an interest from our members, we will continue to do stuff with astronomy in the future," Innes said. \nJodi McCabe attended the event with her husband and children to further their knowledge about the planets.\n"This is kind of a unique experience, and it's really family-friendly," McCabe said. "I bring my kids here a lot because they like it so much. We love the WonderLab."\nDespite the two-day delay, the event turned out successfully, with a large turnout and clear skies.\n"The program went really well," Cervantes said. "I hope that kids will now take an interest in science and astronomy. They seem really excited about it, and I hope that I have helped spur their interest tonight."\n-- Contact staff writer Nellie Summerfield at nsummerf@indiana.edu.