What do you get when you mix an indoor soccer field, 500 cubic feet of helium, 100 middle schoolers, endless duct tape, 40 Adler staff and volunteers, 150 boxed lunches, and a pile of Snap Circuits? Why, Operation Airlift, of course!

Header Image: Adler Teens venture onto Lake Michigan in 2019 looking for fragments of a meteorite! Listen. It’s been five years since a meteor crashed into Lake Michigan and a team of Adler teens, scientists, and other determined meteorite hunters decided to go after it.  The odds were stacked against them at basically every turn. […]

By Rosalía Lugo, Teen Programs Manager, and Colleen Cesaretti Header Image: 2017 group photo of Adler Interns, including former Adler Teen, Mia Berrios. Credit: Mia Berrios Over the years, many teens have passed through our front doors, and in honor of Latinx Heritage Month, we are celebrating two of our stellar former Adler Teens, David […]

Life as a teenager in Chicago can simultaneously be one of the most exciting and isolating things in the world. With public transportation and a host of cultural and academic institutions throughout the city, it’s easy to feel like the world is at your fingertips, but oftentimes there’s something missing: teen-friendly spaces. (Add on to […]

On May 15, 2019, some of our Adler Teens had the opportunity to have dinner with former NASA astronaut Dr. Peggy Whitson at a special dinner in the Grainger Sky Theater. The event took place the evening before our Women in Space Science Award Celebration where we honored Dr. Whitson for her achievements in the […]

An interview with Brenda G., Teen Collections Intern Many people find studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) or working in a science institution intimidating, but a whole other layer is added when you’re one of the first in your family to do it. I sat down with collections intern Brenda Galan to discuss her […]

The Adler Planetarium opened to the public on May 12, 1930, forming a triumvirate of museums with the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium in what is nowadays known as Chicago Museum Campus, a beautiful park by Lake Michigan. In 1932 the Adler’s first director, Philip Fox, wrote: “the three [museums] are fittingly closely associated […]

Growing up in Cicero—a Chicago suburb that shares a border with the city’s Lawndale neighborhood—Theresa Melo never really thought about going to college. Now, she’s a senior at Agnes Scott College, just outside Atlanta, using radio waves to see through the murky parts of our galaxy. Of course, this change of heart didn’t happen overnight. […]