Dome facilitates out-of-this-world projection

Pacific Domes uses 360-degree projection to bring space down to Earth at SpaceFest.

While space enthusiasts spent the summer of 2012 remembering Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon and following Curiosity’s exploration of Mars, Pacific Domes helped to bring a glimpse of space exploration closer to earth.

The geodesic dome manufacturer based in Ashland, Ore., and its sister company, Obscura Digital, provided a 50-foot dome with 360-degree projection technology that highlighted human space exploration for the Samsung SpaceFest at Pier 86 in Manhattan, New York, N.Y.

Pacific Domes supplied its end-client, NASA, with a dome that featured an external frame, a black out projection liner, a hoop door entrance, powder-coated frame, HVAC and flooring. The 360-degree projection technology solved the issue of avoiding seams or “breaks” in projection and brought the event to life with educational video of advances in space exploration, from low-Earth orbit to the frontiers of deep space. The five-day festival celebrated the opening of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum’s Space Shuttle Pavilion, and its newly acquired Space Shuttle Enterprise.