Eight years after shutting down its original dome theater, MOSI is nearly ready to open the country's second-largest digital dome planetarium in its place.
Local leaders and officials announced plans for the theater in December 2024, and now, powered by 10 huge digital Christie projectors, the theater will finally make its debut on April 1, 2025.
Before its grand opening, MOSI will host a field trip for Hillsborough County Public School students. Clearwater native and astronaut Nicole Stott will host the event on March 31.
Then, starting tomorrow, multiple showtimes will be offered each day, with tours of the night sky presented by its space experts and immersive 360-degree movies.
It will also serve as the new Saunders Planetarium. The previous planetarium could seat 46 guests at a time, but in the new dome, more than 300 people can share the experience at once.
The past theater inside MOSI’s dome opened in 1995 and closed in 2017.
"This isn’t going to be, though, just reopening the doors and taking you back into what you had before. This is a digital dome theatre powered by ten high-powered, cutting-edge digital Christie projectors,” MOSI CEO John Graydon Smith told ABC Action News in 2024. “The 8K technology that you'll experience is far sharper, brighter, more immersive than the old film technology."
Plus, MOSI said those giant projectors will deliver a "feel-like-you’re-there immersive experience," whether you're in outer space or under the ocean.
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