Just a few years after man’s first steps on the moon, the United States landed the Viking 1 rover on Mars, successfully completing our first mission to Mars. Together with the Viking 2 rover, they returned over 50,000 photos of Mars.

Missions like these have given us insider information on the make-up of Mars. Join us at Discovery Place Nature throughout August to explore the landforms and science of Mars as we dive deeper into this mysterious planet.

Mission to Mars

We’ll kick things off with our Marsquest premiere on August 3. The film, narrated by Sir Patrick Stewart (of Star Trek fame), begins by looking at Mars throughout history before returning to present day and then exploring the future of Mars. Following the premiere, the film will play every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

On August 10, explore the differences in the soil found on Mars and the soil found on Earth in our Martian Soil program. Discover the fascinating real-life applications these differences have here on Earth and play with some unique sand while you are at it!

Make water boil at room temperature (yes, you read that right!) during our Boiling Cold event on August 21 and August 24. Mars is very different than the planet we call home and to understand its atmosphere, we’ll take a deeper dive into the chemistry of the Red Planet.

On August 28 and August 31, Imagine a Martian with us. What do you think a Martian might look like? Come explore life on Mars and create your very own Martian to take home.

Other out-of-this-world fun

As always, Discovery Place Nature will host its monthly Bird Walk. On August 3, join us for a leisurely walk around the Museum and Freedom Park. We’ll be looking and listening for seasonal and resident birds found in Charlotte and the surrounding areas this time of year.

The Museum’s monthly Nature Walk will take place August 24. Guests can join one of our naturalists for a stroll around Discovery Place Nature’s Paw Paw Nature Trail. We’ll use our senses of sight, hearing, smell and touch to discover the beauty and diversity of the bottomland forest habitat.