Stern Magazin 16 October 2003

Have you ever been to space? A unique experience! For the American Dennis Tito, it was worth 20 million Dollars. That’s how much the first space tourist paid two years ago for a trip to the International Space Station. You will not need to pay as much. For six Euros, it can be yours. Lift off for a breathtaking flight through the universe. This journey through the endless expanse of space for a bargain price is offered by a new theater of illusions which recently had its premiere in the planetarium of the city of Hamburg. Director Thomas Kraupe promises “an emotionally gripping show,” offering “heaven on earth” to the visitors. Now, the tradition-steeped building, which was extensively remodeled, houses “the world’s most modern planetarium”, as promised by its director. Not only the night sky will glitter in unsurpassed brilliance above the heads of the audience within the 21 meter dome. It seems to open up into infinity, and the audience will float away into space with “no strings attached”, as Peter Schilling once sang in “Major Tom”. Seemingly weightless, they circle around the Blue Planet, fly to Venus and Mars, through the Rings of Saturn, discover strange worlds on far away moons and comets. Within seconds, they cross entire galaxies. Millions of light years become a short hop. It is the beginning of a new era for celestial theaters in this country, a technical quantum leap. Exactly 80 years ago, Zeiss from Jena presented the world’s first opto-mechanical star projector in the German Museum in Munich, whose elaborately constructed successors now light up almost 60 large and small planetariums all over the country. Today, digital technology and multimedia put the audience under their spell like never before..