Calendar of Events

Count down to lift-off in The Shop when you design and build a rocket propulsion model. Using available tools and materials, you can build an interstellar vehicle and a launch to send it into orbit. Best of all, what you make is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Count down to lift-off in The Shop when you design and build a rocket propulsion model. Using available tools and materials, you can build an interstellar vehicle and a launcher to send it into orbit. Best of all, what you make is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Join our friends from the Sierra Nevada Amateur Radio Society to explore the intricacies of amateur radio. Amateur radio, often referred to as “Ham” radio, is the ability to communicate—across the street, around the world, or even with people and satellites in space! Even when the power’s out, and the land lines and cell phones don’t work, with a battery, a radio, and a wire, Ham radio is there. At this event you can: Talk on the radio with other…

Choose your favorite planet, or planets, and make a wearable button with its likeness. Using available images and our handy button press, you can create a pin-back button with Earth, Mars, Venus or whatever your favorite planet may be. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Combine your LEGO® expertise with a your programming skills when you build a programmable Mars rover in Spark!Lab Smithsonian. Be sure to take into consideration the Red Planet’s harsh landscape and then design, build and program a rover to safely navigate Mars’ diverse terrain.

Choose your favorite planet, or planets, and make a wearable button with its likeness. Using available images and our handy button press, you can create a pin-back button with Earth, Mars, Venus or whatever your favorite planet may be. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Combine your LEGO® expertise with a your programming skills when you build a programmable Mars rover in Spark!Lab Smithsonian. Be sure to take into consideration the Red Planet’s harsh landscape and then design, build and program a rover to safely navigate Mars’ diverse terrain.

Tackle the harsh and varied landscape of the Red Planet with a motorized rover you design and build in The Shop. Combine a miniature motor with a variety of available materials to create a powered rover that can traverse Mars. What you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Celebrate Independence Day with a “bang!” Visit The Shop to build a do-it-yourself firework launcher. Using available tools and materials, you can create a festive rocket and a launcher to send it soaring into the night sky. Best of all, what you make is yours to keep for your 4th of July celebration! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and…

Join Visiting Artist Nathaniel Benjamin as he creates a unique, space-themed, 3D work of chalk art on the plaza in front of The Discovery. About Nathaniel Benjamin Nathaniel approaches his art practice through a playful, surrealistic lens, examining the interaction between self and other. Raised mostly in the Midwest, his religious childhood inspired him to study mysticism and mythology, subjects that inform much of his imagery. He earned his BFA with an emphasis in printmaking from the University of Nevada, Reno,…

Design and build your very own interpretation of what alien transportation might look like in The Shop. Using available tools and materials, you can create an unidentified flying object (UFO) that could bring visitors from other planets to ours. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Create your own space-themed zoetrope in The Shop. Using a variety of materials, you can create a pre-film animation devices that produces the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Dating all the way back to our time as hunter-gathers, humans have pondered their existence within the Cosmos. Join our friends from Tahoe Star Tours for a discussion of our place in Universe and then gaze at the night sky through powerful telescopes and formulate your own theories about whether we’re alone amongst the stars. Note: This event begins at the Downtown Reno Library (301 S. Center Street) at 8:30pm. Stargazing will take place in The Discovery’s parking lot beginning…

On July 20, 1969, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully landed two astronauts on the surface of the moon. From the moon’s surface, astronaut Neil Armstrong deemed the feat, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Discovery invites you to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a variety of space-themed labs and activities throughout the museum all day. Learn about the science that helped humans travel to the moon,…

Something fishy is going on at The Discovery! Visiting Artist Carol Foldvary-Anderson will be sharing with museum visitors just how fun and easy creating your own fish out of colorful air dry clay can be! Working with simple shapes and everyday tools, you too can create a fish that can be a happy fantasy. About Carol Foldvary-Anderson “Creating beauty and inspiring joy is the essence of what my art represents,” states multi award-winning mixed media artist and arts educator, Carol…