About Us

The Marie Drake Planetarium, located in downtown Juneau, Alaska has been providing free astronomy and space exploration to the public, school classes and community groups since the late 1960s. It is one of the few remaining working school planetariums in the United States which were funded by the National Defense Education Act of 1958 in response to the Soviet expansion of the space race with the launch of the Sputnik satellite.

The planetarium is the most fully immersive facility in Juneau and run by volunteers from the Friends of the Marie Drake Planetarium. Our mission is to provide astronomy and science education to the public, school classes, and community groups and to promote the use of the planetarium by engaging the public in a variety of entertaining and interesting topics which will inspire our audiences to learn more about our amazing universe and the world around us.

The Friends of the Marie Drake Planetarium (FOMDP) was formed in 2011 as a nonprofit 501(c)(3).

In 2021, thanks to donations from interested patrons and local community groups, the planetarium was able to purchase a modern digital display system to replace the original analog Star Ball projector. It has allowed our staff to explore the far edges of space and create mind-expanding shared immersive experiences.

We would like to thank the Juneau School District and its Juneau Community schools for allowing our use of the facility and for its generous assistance in many ways.

The physical planetarium dome space is owned by the JSD. The FOMDP owns the digital projector and pays for software and hardware upgrades while JSD pays for room maintenance expenses such as electricity and cleaning.

In 2019, thanks to donations from interested patrons and local community groups, the planetarium was able to purchase a modern digital display system to replace the original analog Star Ball projector. It has allowed our staff to explore the far edges of space and create mind-expanding shared immersive experiences.