© 2010 burdickd. All rights reserved. Todd Houghton, right, a senior physics major at the University of Colorado, prepares a program for later in the week at the Fiske Planetarium on Tuesday. In the background is Francisco Salas, operations manager for the facility. The planetarium is installing three new digital projectors to replace their old-school slide and star projectors. | Photo: Marty Caivano / Camera

Fiske Planetarium upgrade: But can Laser Floyd get any better?

Todd Houghton, right, a senior physics major at the University of Colorado, prepares a program for later in the week at the Fiske Planetarium on Tuesday. In the background is Francisco Salas, operations manager for the facility. The planetarium is installing three new digital projectors to replace their old-school slide and star projectors. | Photo: Marty Caivano / Camera

Fiske Planetarium at CU, home to planetarium-y things like Laser Floyd and Laser Daft Punk and, well, probably other things (OK, plenty of other things including education and even inspiration), might get a pretty serious makeover.

The planetarium is hosting a demonstration at 7 p.m. on Friday to show off some new technology that would enhance the viewing experience and, supporters hope, make the planetarium more of a draw for locals. From the Camera:

Using photos from rovers, scientists will be able to “drive” audiences across Mars, making them feel as though they’ve landed on the red planet, perhaps witnessing the pair of tiny orbiting moons or the mountains that stretch higher than Earth’s Mount Everest. With 3-D technology, science students — or anybody from the public interested in astronomy — would feel like they can reach out and touch the dust kicked up in one the planet’s storms.

The renovated theater would include new projectors and a high-tech piece called “Megastar,” which is capable of showcasing millions of stars instead of the thousands typical of planetariums. The cost could range between $1 million and $2 million.

Check out the rest of the Camera story on the possible Fiske makeover.

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