Malaysia Travel

Finally last weekend I manage to visit the The National Planetarium (planetarium Negara) in Lake Garden Kuala Lumpur. Here is some information about it.

The National Planetarium (Malay: Planetarium Negara) is the national planetarium of Malaysia. It is a blue-domed structure that is situated on top of a hill in the Lake Gardens at Jalan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur. It is about 120,000 square feet (11,000 m2) in area.

The National Planetarium started as the Planetarium Division in the Prime Minister’s Department in 1989. The construction of the National Planetarium complex began in 1990 and was completed in 1993. A soft launch to the public began in May 1993 and it was officially opened by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohamad, on February 7, 1994. In July 1995, the Division was transferred to the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, which is also the owner of this planetarium.

One of the major attractions of this planetarium includes a space theatre which screens space shows and large format film.

In the main hall are permanent exhibits related to space science. Among them is Arianne IV space engine, which is also one of the engines used to launch MEASAT 1, Malaysia’s first satellite into space. A 14-inch (360 mm) telescope is located in the observatory.

The National Planetarium extends to a space theme park where replicas of ancient observatories are sited. It is connected by an overhead pedestrian bridge to the National Museum of Malaysia.

The planetarium is opened daily from 10am to 4pm except on Mondays. The planetarium shows take place at two-hour intervals from the opening hour to the closing hour. The films take place at 11am and 3pm. Entrance to the planetarium costs RM1 for adults, and free for children, while a RM6 fee for adults and RM4 fee for children is required in order to watch the film.

There are lots of thing can be seen here including the video and information about space. I am not a ‘space’ guy, so not much that I can tell about the exhibition, but I still think it is a nice place to visit. I think the kids will like this place as they will able to see many ‘new things’ which they normally didn’t see elsewhere.

I manage to take some photo when I go there, at least it will able to give you some idea what it is like in the planetarium.