Framingham State University Hosting Science Festival for the Community: Science on State Street

Framingham State University is hosting a day-long science extravaganza for learners of all ages on Saturday, April 25.

The “Science on State Street” festival at Framingham State is part of the larger Cambridge Science Festival taking place from April 17-26.

The event will feature a special outdoor exhibit called “From Earth to the Universe” that features breathtaking astronomical images from the Hubble and Chandra telescopes. The exhibit, which has gone on display at museums and airports around the world, is on loan to the University from the Chandra X-ray Observatory at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge.

“This is going to be a great event for families,” says Dr. Irene Porro, director of the University’s Christa McAuliffe Center. “Most of the activities are hands-on experiences that people will be able to participate in. It should be a lot of fun.”

Entirely free and open to the public, the event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Activities will include six Planetarium Shows, presented by McAuliffe Center staff in the University planetarium, throughout the day celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope, which launched on April 24, 1990.

Most events will take place outdoors (weather permitting) in Crocker Grove and will be put on by Framingham State faculty and students, as well as businesses in the region.

Presentations will include hands-on experiences in biology, chemistry, physics, food science, robotics and engineering and a passport tour of the solar system where visitors will start at the sun and receive a stamp for each planet they visit in this 1-billion-to-1 scale model of our solar system. iRobot will discuss the science behind the robots they create and give visitors a chance to interact with them up close and personal.

There will also be an opportunity to explore beautifully crafted models of NASA spacecrafts, including the Space Shuttle, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Science Laboratory, Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and the James Web Space Telescope.