ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — The final phase of renovations at the New Mexico Museum of Space History's theater and planetarium call for a full dome replacement.
The Alamogordo Daily News reports that the work will begin Jan. 2. The construction will close the theater through March 9.
The new dome is being installed by Spitz Inc., the same company that installed a new laser planetarium projection system in the theater in 2016.
The company will use a special process that effectively eliminates seams in the dome by handcrafting each individual panel to be flush with its neighbor, making the entire projection surface uniform.
The new dome will consist of 154 custom-cut panels with reflectivity much greater than the one that was installed in 1980.
Grant funding is helping pay for the renovations.