posted 11-15-2019 05:45 PM               

Space Center Houston sets Saturn V rocket aglow with 'Galaxy Lights'

Space Center Houston is shining some festive light on NASA's iconography with a glowing nighttime display that answers the question: How many holiday bulbs does it take to cover the length of a Saturn V rocket?

Galaxy Lights, presented by Reliant, celebrates the season and space exploration with what Space Center Houston calls "the most interactive and technologically advanced light display in Texas."

posted 11-14-2020 03:27 PM               

In partnership with Reliant, Space Center Houston expanded Galaxy Lights this year to include new spacious outdoor and indoor experiences. Guests will experience two high-tech kinetic light shows, supported by JSC Federal Credit Union, including a new show, where dozens of suspended lights move in precise choreographed sequences to music above the Main Plaza.

In a new outdoor path, guests will walk through a 200-foot LED light tunnel made of more than 250,000 lights synchronized to festive holiday music. Explore the solar system through massive models of each planet along the path, including an all-new up-lit, laser-etched acrylic silhouette sculpture.

Located at the Independence Plaza experience, supported by Texas Children's Hospital, guests can hop onto a new interactive light pad, supported by BHP, made of 143 multicolor platforms under the wing of the historic shuttle carrier aircraft. Watch snowflakes falling on a massive projection wall and the occasional snowfall from a snow machine. Snap a selfie in the Earth photo station and the new snow globe photo station. Grab a bite and experience the holiday atmosphere at the s'more pits, sip hot cocoa and enjoy holiday food and beverages available for purchase.

This year's Galaxy Lights celebrates the 20th anniversary of continuous human habitation aboard the International Space Station (ISS) with an all-new Lights Around the World display surrounding the new permanent outdoor exhibit, a flown SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. See six aluminum 20-foot trees representing Space Station partners including the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia and the European Space Agency surrounded by multicolor glowing stars among the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The trees are decorated culturally as a tribute to each partner nation. At the tip of the Falcon 9, take a photo with a 15-foot wreath made of all the ISS partner flags. Walk underneath a massive 40-foot-tall, 100-foot-long sparkling shooting star set nearby the SpaceX Falcon 9 exhibit.

See a 20-foot twinkling tree with swirling and blinking multicolor lights and watch an interactive new show, "Let There Be Light," to learn about science behind starlight as well as how lighting conditions aboard the International Space Station affects astronauts.

Watch an original film "Holidays in Space" that includes real footage of astronauts celebrating the holidays as well as interviews with retired astronauts about what it was like celebrating in space. Don't miss demonstrations of how batteries power lights and learn how LED lights work on a light wall. Stargaze at an indoor meteor shower before stepping out onto the Zero-G Diner patio to marvel at large 3-D holiday décor.