Sometimes I wonder if 8 years old is around the time you discover who you really are and what you love, and I remember it being one of my favorite years with our twin boys. It’s also around the time I think one of our guys really got into everything airplane and space, so much so that now as a high school freshman he is currently going to an aviation themed school in the Seattle area and dreams of going to space one day. And even though I’m actually terrified of most things space and aeronautical, I try my best to get involved. It’s also why recently we watched Deep Sky together and how I know it’s probably something you might want to watch in IMAX when it opens in 300 IMAX theaters across the country on April 19th.
Deep Sky is a documentary that runs about 40 minutes and it’s all about NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and how it launched into orbit and the images it captured and sent back to Earth. If you want to see the trailer, I’ve linked it here. I didn’t know much about the telescope when I first started to hear about it in 2022, but my son was really into it and I remember him texting me pictures he saw in the news when the photos first started becoming public. The Deep Sky documentary is narrated by Michelle Williams who I’ve adored since her Dawson’s Creek days and I also really appreciated most recently for her Audible reading of Britney Spear’s Memoir ” The Woman in Me.” Her voice is soothing and calm as she tells the story of this incredible telescope and asks soul-searching questions about the meaning of life in relation to what we are learning about space from its journey.
We watched Deep Sky at home on my laptop for the purpose of this review and even on that little screen the photos from space were pretty incredible and the sheer beauty of it all made me tear up a little at times, but I think it would be even more awe-inspiring seeing this film in IMAX. There is something so special about watching deeply touching things in a theatre, where you can feel the community around you sharing similar feelings too. And being immersed in this movie via giant IMAX screens could only be pretty spectacular.
Another space-related film my teenage son and I saw together this year was A Million Miles Away and we’ve had so many conversations about space and life as an astronaut or as someone trying to become an astronaut because of this movie. Jose Hernandez’s story was so compelling and beautiful, I think I cried the whole time in this one too. (Why does space so often evoke this emotion?) I also had the opportunity to ask a few questions to Jose Hernandez at a press junket and he emphasized the need for engineering and STEM related courses as part of the path to becoming an astronaut so I was thankful to be able to pass information on to my son as well. Along with hearing about an astronaut’s journey from growing up as a migrant farm worker, the message of this movie is so much about not giving up on your dreams and I think it’s a really great one especially for teens.
If you are thinking of places to visit to experience space, we found out this spring break that you can visit Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, a place that houses one of the largest collection of telescopes in the world. (And we found this just by chance when we realized that Tucson is a dark sky area known for seeing the Milky Way with your naked eye). My husband and son were in Tucson and booked an evening tour fairly last minute and were lucky enough to be able to get a spot. Thankfully they had packed a bunch of warm gear for their trip knowing that evenings in Tucson might be very cold and they ended up very grateful for the layers. All the photos in this post were taken by my son on his phone from their adventure at Kitt Peak National Observatory and next time I want to join in on this experience too.
Do you have a teenager who is also interested in space and becoming an astronaut? I’d love to hear about it here, or you can also message me through my instagram. I’ll try to keep updating this post if I see anything else that might be of interest to a space loving teen as well.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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