Summer in Space: August 2014 at the Fleet

One more month of summer. One more month to have fun in space and beyond at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, San Diego, CA  . Here’s the August highlights:

The Sky Tonight: Two Years of Curiosity * Wednesday, August 6, 7 & 8:15 p.m. * This month’s live planetarium show, led by astronomer Dr. Lisa Will, will highlight the discoveries of the Mars Curiosity Rover.  *

ILLUSION: Nothing Is As It Seems * Now until Sunday, Jan 11, 2015 * Have you puzzled over the sneakers inside a glass container in Bottle Magic? Or been dazzled by Gregory Barsamian’s sculptural zoetrope, Untitled? Or taken the ultimate selfie at You. Here. Now.? Open daily to distort your senses and mystify your mind. ILLUSION joins magic with psychology, optical illusions with scientific reasoning and confusion with clarity. More than 20 intriguing exhibits deceive the eyes of the visitor, showing that what we perceive is often radically different from the reality we observe. ILLUSION will distort your senses and mystify your mind. *

Tinkerers’ Club * Saturdays, August 9, 16, 23, 30, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Tinkering Studio * Dream it, create it and take it home with our new Tinkerers’ Club! Join us as we take on out-of-this-world projects. This month’s activities include designing a rocket, recreating celestial explosions, building space farms and designing solar-powered vehicles. Supplies are limited. Advance registration is recommended. *

Family Science Saturdays: All About Space * Saturdays, August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 1-3 p.m. * Every Saturday in August, the Fleet hosts fun, free workshops in our Tinkering Studio. This month, learn about outer space and space exploration as you create launch-ready rockets, colorful planets, geometric stars and “Martian housing,” all using basic household materials. *

Saturday Science Club for Girls: Bloomin’ Botany * Saturday, August 9, noon to 2 p.m. * Explore the beautiful science of flowers. Try your hand at botany as you dissect flowers and learn about chlorophyll. You’ll even make perfume from flower petals! Saturday Science Club for Girls invites girls in grades 5-8 to join the Fleet on the second Saturday of each month to investigate exciting science topics. $14. *