From specialized tours and events to hands-on activities and lectures, PARI provides unique experiences for visitors of all ages.
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Curious about what we have available here? View our Frequently Asked Questions? They might have the answer you need!
Scheduled Public Events
These unique and one of a kind events are available on specific dates. Registration is required. We recommend reviewing our frequently asked questions before planning a visit.
Featured Events:
Thank you for taking a look at our calendar. At the moment we are completely booked and don't have any events with tickets available. But, we are hard at work on our summer schedule so check back soon for a new batch of tours and events for June, July, and August!
Book Your Own Tour
📅 Most Weekdays
Self Guided Tours or Private Guided Tours are often available on weekdays and some weekends. So long as another event, field trip, or private tour is not already scheduled, we can likely accomodate your visit. Give us a call at 828-862-5554 to check availability.
Plan an overnight stay
📅 Most Nights
Whether you'll take advantage of our dark skies for observing or explore the mountains and waterfalls nearby, consider staying at PARI. Our affordable camp sites are perfect for tents, or choose a luxury stay in our cabins. Options also available large groups. Contact us to set up your stay.
Holiday Private Tours
📅 December 23rd 2024
We have just a few tours available right before Christmas Day. Gather a group of family and friends and add a trip through space science to your celebration. Reserve your spot before they're gone!
NASA Space Apps Challenge Hackathon
📅 October 3rd to October 5th2025
The NASA International Space Apps Challenge is a hackathon for coders, scientists, designers, storytellers, makers, technologists, and innovators around the world to come together and use open data from NASA and its Space Agency Partners to create solutions to challenges we face on Earth and in space.
PARI Hack-A-Thon
📅 April 11th to April 13th2024
The PARI Hackathon is for teams of high school or college students with a passion for space. If you have skills in coding, design, storytelling, art, or communication, and a bunch of creativity, join us for this free weekend event. We'll challenge you to transform space science topics into tools and experiences to inspire others.
Orionids Meteor Shower
📅 October 17th 2025
Join us for a night of shooting stars as we celebrate the Orionids meteor shower! Caused by debris from Halley's Comet, the Orionids peak in mid-October and can reach up to 70 meteors per hour. Choose from three ways to experience this brilliant display of meteors.
Star Party Weekend
📅 Friday, October 24th 2025 to Sunday, October 26th 2025
Join fellow skywatchers for an unforgettable weekend of observing, learning, and connecting at a certified Dark Sky Park. Whether you’re toting a Dob, a refractor, or just a star map and some curiosity, you’ll find a welcoming community and engaging guest speakers ready to share views and swap stories. Multiple ticket types are available.
Fall Festival Free Open House
📅 November 1st 2024
Gather your friends and family and join use for our annual autumn open house event Fall Festival of STEM! 🚀🧑🚀
Tour our museum, talk to scientists, play games and do activities, take in a show and have some good food.
Leonids Meteor Shower
📅 November 14th 2025
Join us for a night of shooting stars as we celebrate the Leonids meteor shower! Caused by debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle, the Leonids peak in mid-November and have been producing spectacular showers since the 1800's! Choose from three ways to experience this brilliant display of meteors.
Self-Guided Tours
📅 Saturday, February 7th 2026
Come and explore our museum! See how our telescopes work today, and how they communicated with satellites long ago. Learn about historic NASA artifacts like our Apollo lander and real rocket engine. Take in the sparkle of mineral specimens and fossils from around the world. Discover the impact of meteorites of all types that fell to Earth. Delve into our dark fluorescent tunnel.
Artemis Day Self-guided tours + guest
📅 Saturday, February 7th 2026
Come celebrate the launch of Artemis II, NASA's return to the Moon! Expected to launch on 2/6/2026, this exciting mission should be well on its way during your visit! Explore our museum with NASA artifacts and operations center where past NASA missions were tracked. A NASA Solar System Ambassador will be here as a special guest to answer your Artemis questions!
Holidays at PARI - Valentine Viewing
📅 February 13th 2026
The sky is full of wonder, and star gazing has long been an activity that creates memories and strengthens bonds between people who share it. Breathtaking nebulae with vibrant colors can invoke passion. The stories of many constellations tell of love and triumph. Catching sight of a shooting star can fill you with hope and a longing for what the future will bring.
Evening at PARI - Jupiter and Orion
& Spring Equinox
📅 March 20th 2026
Orion the Hunter will be bold in the southwest with tumultuous Betelgeuse shining on his eastern shoulder. We'll take a look at some of the many nebulae hidden in this constellation. Above Orion will be bright Jupiter in the constellation Gemini the Twins. Our telescopes will reveal its bands and storms and its four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Astrophotography Class
📅 Saturday, March 28th 2026
Throughout the sky are wonders just beyond what the human eye can discern. But with a camera, tripod, and a little know-how, you can learn to find, reveal, and share fascinating objects from within our own solar system and others much, much further. The one-day class will be led by two experienced astrophotographers, David Krause and Tommy Wilkinson, both of the Asheville Astronomy Club. The class size is limited to allow hands-on, individual attention.
Family STEM Days - Meteorite Day
📅 Saturday, March 28th 2026
Hands-on, interactive events hosted by PARI designed to engage families and friends in exploring STEM topics together. Participants learn through experiments, demonstrations, and collaborative activities. This event is all about Meteorites. Examine and study them, learn history and stories, and identify your own and take it home!
Space Day Free Open House
📅 April 25th 2026
Gather your friends and family and join use for our annual spring open house event and STEM day, SPACE DAY! 🚀🧑🚀
Tour our museum, talk to scientists, play games and do activities, take in a show and have some good food.
Evening at PARI - Lyrids Meteor Shower
📅 April 24th 2026
the Lyrids offer a quiet elegance rather than a storm. For a few spring nights, tiny grains of ancient comet dust strike Earth’s atmosphere and briefly flare into light, tracing fleeting lines that connect modern observers with millennia of skywatchers who saw the same celestial sparks and wondered at their origin. Lyrids are known for their fast speeds and occasional bright fireballs.
Upcoming Events:
Don't see what you're looking for?
PARI offers a variety of customized tours and programs for all kinds of groups.
We are pleased to offer self guided museum tours on many weekdays and some weekends! Our museum and grounds are open to visitors during our business hours so long as there are not other events, programs, or camps utilizing the site.
On days that self guided tours are available, guests may arrive between 10am and 3pm, but may remain in the museum until it closes at 5pm.
Give us a call to check availablilty come explore! When you arrive, press the silver call button at the gate then proceed to the visitors entrance. Tickets are sold at the door for $12.00 per person.
Included in the tour:
Operations and Control Room with:
Telescope Controls
3D Printers and 3D models, inculding Lunar and Martian terrain
Historical exhibits of telescope and satellite communications equipment of the past
NASA Exhibit Gallery with:
Apollo Lunar Lander
ATS 6 Satellite
Redstone Rocket Engine
Many other items flown in space from Mercury through the Space Shuttle program
Gem & Mineral Gallery with:
Hundreds of specimes from North Carolina
Hundreds of specimens from around the world
600 micromounts of rare minerals
Plant, animal, fish, and dinosaur fossils
Impact glasses like tektites including moldavite and australite, and other glasses like fulgarites and trinitite
Meteorite Gallery with:
Stony meteorites, Iron meteorites, and Stony-Iron meteorites that fell in places around the world
Famous meteorites with exciting stories
Meteorites that originated from the Moon, Mars, and locations in the asteroid belt
Fluorescent Tunnel full of rocks that glow and emit light in neon colors
PARI's annual spring open house is free and open to the public. Join us for a day of fun and STEM learning!
📅 Saturday, April 27, 2024
🕙 10:00am until 4:00pm
🎟️ Admission is free, but there will be some paid activities
🚀Hop on board our shuttle for outdoor site tours (*not a real space shuttle, just a ground one🚐)
💎Take in our museum galleries with NASA and space artifacts, minerals and gems, meteorites, and more, open with scientists to answer your questions☄️
🔭Peek through a solar telescope to safely observe the Sun and look for sunspots☀️ (weather allowing)
🪐Journey through our solar system on the Galaxy Walk, our scale model of our home in the universe
🖍️Visit the activity tables with fun stuff for kids
🎶Hear music played by DJ RaZor with 4 Dreamz Entertainment
🌌Immerse yourself in outer space with a planetarium show (requires a separate $5 ticket)
😋Enjoy a meal from local food vendors, and snacks from the PARI dining hall (food must be purchased)🥪
😃Visit booths and displays from some of PARI's friends and partners.
⛰️Hike to our observation deck for beautiful views
🎉Play games outside
📡 Talk to one of our educators about our summer camps and learn about scholarships for your kids. You can even claim a scholarship (while they last) and register while you're here.
🎨 Paint minifigures of spaceships, astronauts, dinosaurs, & more (paid activity)
Come by and bring some family and friends. It's the perfect day to experience what we're all about and learn about our home in the universe!
📡Space Day Open House 2026🔭
PARI's annual spring open house is free and open to the public. Join us for a day of fun and STEM learning!
📅 Saturday, April 25, 2026
🕙 10:00am until 4:00pm
🎟️ Admission is free, but there will be some paid activities
🚀Hop on board our shuttle for outdoor site tours (*not a real space shuttle, just a ground one🚐)
💎Take in our museum galleries with NASA and space artifacts, minerals and gems, meteorites, and more, open with scientists to answer your questions☄️
🔭Peek through a solar telescope to safely observe the Sun and look for sunspots☀️ (weather allowing)
🪐Journey through our solar system on the Galaxy Walk, our scale model of our home in the universe
🖍️Visit the activity tables with fun stuff for kids
🎶Hear music played by DJ RaZor with 4 Dreamz Entertainment
🌌Immerse yourself in outer space with a planetarium show (requires a separate $5 ticket)
😋Enjoy a meal from local food vendors, including the Local Harvester food truck and Grand Olde Station (food must be purchased)🥪
😃Visit booths and displays from some of PARI's friends and partners.
⛰️Hike to our observation deck for beautiful views
🎨Transform into your favorite space creature, or something else, with face paining (requires purchase)
🎉Play games outside
📚Pick out some summer reading with the Transylvania County Book Mobile.
🤖Explore with rovers and robots with Hendersonville's robotics club.
📡 Talk to one of our educators about our summer camps and learn about scholarships for your kids. You can even claim a scholarship (while they last) and register while you're here.
🎨 Paint minifigures of spaceships, astronauts, dinosaurs, & more (paid activity)
Come by and bring some family and friends. It's the perfect day to experience what we're all about and learn about our home in the universe!
🎃 Fall Festival 2025 🍂
PARI's annual autumn open house is free and open to the public. Join us for a day of fun and STEM learning!
📅 Saturday, November 1st 2025
🕙 11:00am until 5:00pm
🎟️ Admission is free, but there will be some paid activities
🚀Hop on board our shuttle for outdoor site tours (*not a real space shuttle, just a ground one🚐)
🚜Hop on board our hay ride for a trip around the grounds
💎Take in our museum galleries with NASA and space artifacts, minerals and gems, meteorites, and more, open with scientists to answer your questions☄️
🔭Peek through a solar telescope to safely observe the Sun and look for sunspots☀️ (weather allowing)
🪐Journey through our solar system on the Galaxy Walk, our scale model of our home in the universe
🖍️Visit the activity tables with fun stuff for kids
🎶Hear music played by DJ RaZor with 4 Dreamz Entertainment
🌌Immerse yourself in outer space with a planetarium show (requires a separate $5 ticket)
😋Enjoy a meal from local food vendors (food must be purchased)🥪
😃Visit booths and displays from some of PARI's friends and partners.
⛰️Hike to our observation deck for beautiful views
🎨Transform into your favorite space creature, or something else, with face paining (requires purchase)
🎉Play games outside
📡 Talk to one of our educators about our summer camps and learn about scholarships for your kids. You can even claim a scholarship (while they last) and register while you're here.
🎨 Paint minifigures of spaceships, astronauts, dinosaurs, & more (paid activity)
Come by and bring some family and friends. It's the perfect day to experience what we're all about and learn about our home in the universe!
Take a look at some of PARI's out of this world designs!
Each is available on a huge variety of items, like apparel, art prints, phone and laptop cases, backpacks, mugs, blankets, and more! Click one to customize it at our store on Redbubble. All proceeds benefit PARI's education mission.
