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“I’m sending a challenge, an invitation out,” Kent said “Festival of Science people, I want to put together a whole Festival of Science kid’s event and use the education departments of Lowell Observatory, Museum of Northern Arizona and Meteor Creator, and come together and do one big event dedicated to our junior scientists and our kids, sponsored by the science attractions So I’m issuing the challenge, let’s put it together and make it happen ”

The Festival of Science is a yearly 10-day event put on for free encapsulating a variety of events surrounding that year’s theme

A portion of the revenue generated at Planet Science will be going to the Meteor Crater Educational Foundation which is dedicated to our youth, Kent said

Bringing classrooms out to Meteor Crater, creating scholarships and putting together school curriculums are some of the ways Kent said they are hoping to bring science to Northern Arizona students of all ages Kent explained this store is one part of building the foundation for those kids’ future

From the beginning, Kent said he always wanted to collaborate with other groups in Flagstaff for this store Along with the Museum of Northern Arizona and Grand Canyon Youth, Kent also reached out to Lowell Observatory

Danielle Adams, the chief marketing and revenue officer at Lowell Observatory, elaborated on the convenient location of the new downtown store

“We want any tourist who comes to Flagstaff to come on up to the observatory but sometimes they don’t have enough time,” Adams said “Perhaps if they’re wandering around downtown, they may still take something from Lowell home with them ”

Adams said this STEM-focused store makes gift-giving and science memorabilia more accessible to the community

Adams also explained how Planet Science caters to a niche section of the tourism industry called astrotourism The City of Flagstaff has already begun marketing the town as one of the central locations for astrotourism, but Planet Science will act as a physical space where science and people’s interest can come together.

“The store is not focused on the science research community, Adams said. “It’s more focused on the popular consumption of science and appreciation of science. I think really what it wraps into is this growing movement for astrotourism That is a special segment of the tourism industry.”

The largest draw to astrotourism is stargazing, which Flagstaff is internationally known for ever since it became an International Dark Sky City.

This is not the first time Lowell Observatory has collaborated with

Meteor Crater and engaged in this mutually beneficial partnership

Last year, the two science-oriented groups came together to put on an Arizona version of the international event, Asteroid Day Asteroid Day is an event hosted around the globe to bring awareness to the risk of asteroid impacts along with general information about the science community Kent said this one-day event allows visitors to buy a joint pass in order to spend the daytime exploring Meteor Crater then travel over to Lowell Observatory to spend the night learning about the stars.

Currently, the Lowell Observatory products located at Planet Science include T-shirts, mugs and Percival Lowell Mars globes, which, Adams added, have Percival Lowell’s drawings on them.

Kent hopes Planet Science will soon be able to sell tickets for Lowell Observatory and Meteor Crater but in the meantime, the store offers everything from clothing items to photography books

“We have telescopes that are significant and telescopes if you’re into amateur astronomy or ones hobbyists would recognize and appreciate,” Kent said “We have microscopes, but we also have Star Wars Legos And we have key chains and we have funny alien stuff We have incredible fossils and rocks. What we’re trying to do is cover a big spectrum, but also it’s not just a spectrum of interest; it’s a spectrum of demographics.”

In the future, the products the store carries will depend on what the community wants, but Kent said the main goal, for now, is simply for Planet Science to be a hub of community science for Flagstaff Planet Science is just the start of bringing the science community to the heart of Flagstaff