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Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month
Saturday, May 18
All ages, family-friendly.
$12 Adults, $10 Kids/Seniors, Members Free
10 AM-4 PM
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Join Chabot Space and Science Center as we partner with local artists, community leaders, and affinity groups to share resources and celebrate.
Event Schedule
Origami with AYPAL
Rotunda
10 AM-4 PM
AYPAL will be making origami with anyone who would like to stop by. There will be visual instructions with a variety of origami papers for anyone who is interested. Come make origami while learning more about AYPAL!
AYPAL is a leadership development, community organizing and coalition building organization that seeks to create healthy, safe, and thriving communities. Our mission is to empower Oakland’s low-income Asian & Pacific Islander immigrant and refugee families to be leaders for school reform and neighborhood change.
APEN Action
Rotunda
10 AM-4 PM
APEN Action organizes Asian immigrant and refugee communities across California to fight for clean air and a better future. Since 2011, APEN Action has been fighting for healthy, livable neighborhoods and an economy that works for all of us.
Crafting with Chabot: Chang’e the Moon Goddess
Rotunda
10 AM-4 PM
Join Chabot Galaxy Explorers to discover the legend of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess, and her Jade rabbit while you craft and color your own beautiful depiction of this Chinese myth.
Community Resource Table
Front Entrance
10 AM-4 PM
Enjoy free resources and learn about other upcoming AAPI Heritage Month events in the Bay, courtesy of our community partners.
Hawaiian Skies: Hula with Hālau Makana Polynesian Cultural Arts Center
Theater
10:30 AM
Join dancers and storytellers from the Hālau Makana Polynesian Cultural Arts Center as they weave sky and stars, art and science, music and narrative, to unravel the connection between the night sky and the people of Hawaii. Discover, through this powerful hula, how the phases of the moon are intertwined with fishing, farming, and daily life in the Pacific Islands and how ocean navigators of the Pacific use the stars to guide them on the open sea.
Lunaverse
Planetarium
11 AM
(17 minutes) “Lunaverse” explores the nature of Earth’s moon: its motion and phases, lunar and solar eclipses, tides, and the Moon’s origin. The story unfolds as a conversation between a curious young child and the Moon—Luna—over the course of a night, from moonrise to moonset.
Fire & Sky: Apollo, Artemis, & AAPI Connections to the Moon!
Theater
11:30 AM
Join Micah for an exploration of festivals celebrating the Moon across AAPI cultures as we travel the world through trivia. Then we’ll explore what being on the Moon is like through science, seeing it in new ways. Finally, strap in for a fiery live demonstration of how NASA’s Apollo and Artemis rockets get humans to the Moon!
Wayfinders: Waves, Winds, and Stars
Planetarium
12 PM
(45 minutes) This full-dome program puts you on the deck of the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa as you explore the nearly lost art and science of non-instrument navigation in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Produced by Bishop Museum in collaboration with Polynesian Voyaging Society and 1001 Stories.
Storytime: A Big Mooncake for Little Star and Hina (Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones)
Touch the Sun
12:30 PM
Join us in Touch the Sun for a cozy story time featuring moon legends from China and Hawai’i!
Hina (Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones) by Gabrielle Ahulii
Part of a new series called Hawaiian Legends for Little Ones, Hina introduces kids to one of Hawaii’s best-known dieties, the goddess of the moon. In simple, poetic language, this origin story gives small kids a taste of Hawaii’s rich history of storytelling.
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
Pat, pat, pat… Little Star’s soft feet tiptoed to the Big Mooncake.
Little Star loves the delicious Mooncake that she bakes with her mama. But she’s not supposed to eat any yet! What happens when she can’t resist a nibble? In this stunning picture book that shines as bright as the stars in the sky, Newbery Honor author Grace Lin creates a heartwarming original story that explains phases of the moon.
5000 Eyes: Mapping the Universe with DESI
Planetarium
1 PM
(30 minutes) The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is creating the most detailed map of our nearby universe. Installed on the Mayall telescope on Kitt Peak in Southern Arizona, DESI’s 5000 independently operated robots can measure the light from thousands of galaxies at once. Join us as we explore the science, instrument, and people behind this global endeavor.
Science X Fiction with Athena Chan
Theater
1:30 PM
Driven by her love of writing and engineering—creation—Athena Chan delves into the symbiotic relationship between the arts and sciences, highlighting how proficiency in one domain can fortify capabilities in the other. Despite the conventional portrayal of art and STEM as opposite disciplines, pursuing goals in one often yields transferable lessons and skills that can be taken to the other. For Chan, her fondness for consuming science fiction played a pivotal role in shaping her journey as both a NASA engineer and speculative fiction author. Join us as she shares captivating insights and anecdotes, followed by a session of True or False: Science Fiction edition!
Athena Chan graduated from Temple University in 2021 with a BS in mechanical engineering. She moved out to California in 2022 to work in the Aeromechanics Branch at NASA Ames Research Center. Her primary job entails designing various test rigs for Martian rotorcraft under various projects, such as the Mars Exploration Program (MEP), Mars Science Helicopter (MSH), and Rotorcraft Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX). She also helps with wind tunnel test campaigns as a data taker, safety of flight monitor, and model operator. In addition to engineering, Athena spends dedicated time mentoring interns and volunteering at various STEM outreach events in the San Francisco Bay Area. During her free time, Athena enjoys reading, traveling, writing, attending concerts, and hanging out with her dog. She has a younger sister in California, parents in New Hampshire, and the rest of her extended family in various parts of Asia.
Wayfinders: Waves, Winds, and Stars
Planetarium
2 PM
(45 minutes) This full-dome program puts you on the deck of the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa as you explore the nearly lost art and science of non-instrument navigation in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. Produced by Bishop Museum in collaboration with Polynesian Voyaging Society and 1001 Stories.
From LEGO Bricks to Martian Skies: My Journey to NASA with Allen Ruan
Theater
2:30 PM
Join Allen Ruan, an aerospace engineer at NASA Ames Research Center, as he takes us along on his journey from building blocks to Mars helicopters. In his own words, Allen says “My talk is part retrospective and part prospective – a dive back to key moments during my upbringing as an Asian American kid growing up in the 2000s and 2010s that led me to where I am and a snapshot on current and future efforts/challenges we face in exploring Mars.”
Allen Ruan is an aerospace engineer working on flight dynamics for Mars rotorcraft at NASA’s Ames Research Center. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelors (2020) and a Masters (2021) in mechanical engineering with a focus in robotics and controls. In his free time, he enjoys playing video games with his friends and tinkering with whatever gizmo is on his desk at the moment.
Asteroid: Mission Extreme
Mezzanine
3 PM
(25 minutes) Asteroid: Mission Extreme takes audiences on a journey 65 million years in the making to discover how asteroids are both a danger and an opportunity for those of us on planet Earth. The danger of course lies in the possibility of a cataclysmic collision; the opportunity is the crazy idea that asteroids could be stepping stones to other worlds — veritable way stations in space — allowing us to penetrate the deepest realms of the universe. The challenges are enormous, but the idea could ultimately save humankind. Explore with us the possibilities in Asteroid: Mission Extreme.
Bubble Dance Party
Courtyard
2:30 PM-3:30 PM
Boogie down with bubbles as the Courtyard becomes your dance floor! Join MC Micah for music, bubbles, and a whole lot of fun.
