Insider's Guide: Carnegie Science Center

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Plan Your Visit

General admission to the Carnegie Science Center includes access to four floors of interactive exhibits (including the Mars: The Next Giant Leap exhibit), Highmark SportsWorks®, Buhl Planetarium Shows, live demonstration theater shows and the USS Requin submarine.

Visit the Carnegie Science Center for free all year long with a Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Membership! Various membership packages are available and provide access to all four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, including Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and The Andy Warhol Museum, all year long. Members also receive special perks and discounts. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a member.

NOW OPEN: The Science Behind Pixar

May 25, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025
Pittsburgh is Pixarburgh in 2024 with a sprawling two-story, 12,000-square-foot playground filled with science, technology and pure Pixar magic! Uncover the creative secrets behind some of the most beloved movies and characters of all time with more than 50 fun interactive elements designed to flex STEM muscles.

You'll walk through every step of the Pixar process as you create a robot friend for WALL-E, explore a recreation of the set from A Bug's Life, make your own stop motion animation with the iconic Pixar lamp and much more. Plus, gigantic recreations of your favorite characters like Dory, Buzz Lightyear, Sully & Mike and more make for perfect photo ops on your journey.

Pixarburgh doesn't end in that exhibit, either! Look for screenings of Pixar films at The Rangos Giant Cinema every weekend, find Pixar characters in the Miniature Railroad & Village, and celebrate Toy Story Tuesdays all summer long. There's even a 21+ night on Sept. 13 with exclusive access to the exhibit.

Mars: The Next Giant Leap

Explore the red planet, its relationship to earth and the space missions that will get us there at Mars: The Next Giant Leap, the newest permanent exhibition at the Carnegie Science Center, and the largest since it opened in 1991. Guests will be able to:

Imagine a Martian dwelling and see how we can grow food and prioritize resources essential to our survival
Vote on the future of Mars and see how your decisions affect daily life for your colony
Imagine yourself in a space career and see how Pittsburgh could give you a start in the space industry
Address contemporary issues facing the Earth through hypothetical scenarios on Mars

Seven separate zones comprise the exhibit, allowing guests to enjoy the topics above through a View From Mars, setting up a Martian Garden, connecting Pittsburgh to our Mars destiny, and much more.

Credit |

Becky Thurner

More Exhibits, Shows & Programs

Highmark SportsWorks®

Highmark SportsWorks® inspires learning and curiosity by highlighting the laws of science that control sports. Highmark SportsWorks® offers nearly 30 interactive experiences for every age level, including recording your baseball bat swing speed, learn the accuracy of your hockey shot, experience a wheelchair race, and more.

Motion Lab turns practice into an experiment! Perform various sports-related activities while being recorded on a high-speed camera at about 200-250 frames per second. Then head to the playback station to review your motion and compare your results to a professional athlete’s.

Miniature Railroad & Village®

The Miniature Railroad & Village® captures iconic Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania landmarks, from Forbes Field to Fallingwater. The sights and sounds are endless on a short commute around wonderfully, realistic animated scenes. The adds new models and features every year.

Robot Hall of Fame

The first robots were creations of imagination rather than engineering. Through the one-of-a-kind Robot Hall of Fame, visitors can enjoy the fictional machines that sparked the creation of real robots. Robots include: Gort, Maria, The Iron Giant, HAL 9000, R2D2 and C-3PO, and the iconic Tom Servo and Crow.

USS Requin (SS 481)

Boarding the USS Requin (SS 481) Cold War submarine is truly an immersive experience! Tour the space that was once home to 80 men, who carved out a rough and adventurous life during USS Requin’s lengthy defense and scientific missions, some of which are still classified to this day.

H2Oh!

Carnegie Science Center is located on the water where the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers become the Ohio River. These freshwater rivers are a precious resource that sustain amazing wildlife and are the water source for the region. H2Oh!, overlooking the Ohio River, provides insight into the importance of water conservation and provides a unique perspective on how water flows from the rivers to your kitchen sink.

Demonstrations

Science comes to life right before your eyes on three live demonstration stages! From explosive reactions to the chemistry of cooking and the basics of biology, each program offers a unique and exciting science experience!

Buhl Planetarium

Fly to the Moon, soar to Saturn, gaze at the stars, and traverse distant galaxies, all during your trip to Pittsburgh! The newly renovated Buhl Planetarium offers a variety of music-themed laser shows and galactic shows in True-8K digital clarity on an immersive dome screen designed to delight, educate and inspire visitors of all ages!

The Rangos Giant Cinema

During your visit, be sure you make some extra time to enjoy a show! The Rangos Giant Cinema is Pittsburgh’s most immersive movie theater, boasting a 71-by-39-foot Certified Giant Screen, crystal-clear 4K images, brilliant colors and rich surround sound. The Giant Theater operates daily featuring award-winning science-themed movies.

Credit |

Nic Lockerman

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