Why go to the moon when Miraikan brings the moon to you? To celebrate the season of the harvest moon, the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), located in Tokyo's Odaiba, will turn its 6.5-meter-diameter spherical LED display — usually reserved for same-day representations of the Earth from space — into a lifelike 3-D rendition of the moon, complete with craters and valleys.
The revolving display, which is made up of roughly 1 million LEDs, will be on show three times a day, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., 2-4 p.m. and 4:30-5 p.m. between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24.
Having feasted your eyes on the extraterritorial delights, be sure to check out the new exhibition "Underground — Adventure in the Darkness Created by Imagination and Science," which is being held Sept. 22 through Jan. 28, 2008.
While maybe not the last remaining frontier of human discovery, the world beneath the Earth's surface still holds untold secrets. Not only are there more life forms underground than aboveground, but the earth's core forms a historical record of our planet's past — one that might provide clues for the future.
The exhibition features many full-immersion, hands-on displays that will make it enjoyable for children.
For information about each event see www.miraikan.jst.go.jp. Miraikan is open 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. every day except Tuesdays, when it is closed.
