Liberty Science Center

That concrete sphere jutting from the building like a metallic moon isn't just architectural whimsy... it houses the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, the largest planetarium in the entire Western Hemisphere. Inside that sphere, 88 million pixels paint the cosmos across an 89-foot dome while 30,000 watts of sound transport you through space and time. But here's what most visitors never notice as they enter through the Cosmic Portal vestibule... they're walking through a wormhole, complete with compression and expansion effects that mirror the journey through space itself. Since opening in 1992 on this former industrial waterfront in Liberty State Park, this 300,000 square-foot temple to science has been crowned by the most famous sphere you've never heard of. The 700-pound Hoberman Sphere hanging in the main atrium expands and contracts like a mechanical heartbeat, its scissor-like connectors creating geometric poetry that's mesmerized visitors for over three decades. As you stand here on Jersey City Boulevard, you're about to enter the world's first suspended climbing playground, navigate an 80-foot pitch-black tunnel using only touch, and witness controlled explosions in a bulletproof room. This isn't just a museum... it's where the impossible becomes your playground.