The center, which opened in 1993 as New Jersey's first major state science museum, has science exhibits, numerous educational resources, and the original Hoberman sphere, a silver, computer-driven engineering artwork designed by Chuck Hoberman.
Liberty Science Center completed a 22-month, $109 million expansion and renewal project on July 19, 2007.[3] The expansion added 100,000 square feet (9,300m2) to the facility, bringing it to nearly 300,000 square feet (28,000m2).[4]
In December 2017, the Science Center opened the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, a 400-seat facility with a dome 100 feet (30m) in diameter and an 89-foot (27m) diameter screen, named for the benefactor who contributed $5 million towards the cost of construction. Larger than New York City's Hayden Planetarium, at its opening, it was the largest such planetarium in the Western Hemisphere and the world's fourth largest.[2]
In November 2025, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority awarded up to $39.8 million in tax credits over five years through its Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion (CAFE) program. The project, known as Project Supernova, will include a major expansion to the museum and add several outdoor exhibits and amenities, including:[5][6][7]
Science on a Sphere – An exhibit featuring the only official NOAAScience on a Sphere in New Jersey
Wobbly World – An exhibition for young children where they are invited to explore balance, motion, and cause and effect
The Liberty Express – A miniature passenger train holding up to 16 people
Joseph D. Williams 3D Science Theater – A 3D theater featuring three shows, including a T. rex show, a show about oceans, and a Nikola Teslaphaser show
Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium - A Planetarium theater featuring live shows performed by staff, as well as full-dome movies.
The Great Train Set – A 1:32 scalemodel train exhibit on the Lackawanna Railroad in the early 1950s, including a POV projection from miniature cameras on the train
The museum offers various educational sessions for school-age students from PreK-12 during field trips, featuring different educational sessions at various exhibits throughout the museum. The museum features the Center for Learning and Teaching, which contains laboratory workshops designed for student sessions. Other student sessions include the Maker & Tech studio focused around programming and tech, a live surgical session, climate change programs, planetarium shows, a Science on a Sphere session, as well as additional early childhood programs. The museum also features stage shows for students grades PreK-8, which consists of live-action demonstrations. The museum also allows homeschoolco-ops and are able to bring lecturers to schools.[10][11]
The Liberty Science Center also offers professional development sessions for teachers and schools to learn more about STEM subjects.[11]
During the summer, Liberty Science Center offers the Partners in Science program, an 8-week summer high school STEM mentorship for rising high school juniors and seniors. There is also the Pathways to Partners in Science program, a two-week program intended for rising sophomores.[11]
Events
Liberty Science Center's "LSC After Dark" is an 18+ event hosted on some Thursdays from 6-10PM. Each event features a different theme with a matching food menu, dance floor, live DJ, a full bar, and planetarium and laser shows, as well as Space Talk sessions with guest astronomers in the planetarium.[12]
The museum offer Community Evenings, which consists of free visitations for parents and students from qualifying school districts, which largely consists of disadvantaged municipalities.[13]
The BASF's Kids' Lab is an interactive chemistry exhibit for children.[13]
During the summers, Liberty Science Center has a Science Camp, which consists of weekly multi-day events for children between grades 1-8.[13]
The museum offers Scouts programming to help scouts earn badges, as well as special scout-only sessions periodically throughout the year.[14]
Jennifer Chalsty Center for Science Learning and Teaching
In July 2007, the Jennifer Chalsty Center for Science Learning and Teaching opened. It is a 20,000-square-foot (1,900m2) facility extending over the entire former Invention Floor of Liberty Science Center, with six laboratories, a 150-seat theater, and other resources for teachers and students. Educators can upgrade science teaching skills and find peers to help strengthen science instruction in the classroom, while students can participate in intense, multi-day or single-hour programs to ignite interest and skills in science exploration.[15]
In 2019 LSC was in negotiation with Jersey City to receive for a nominal fee city-owned land (a former car pound) which would be developed as an educational and residential area called Sci Tech Scity.[18][19][20] Phase one of the project is scheduled to open in late 2023 and into early 2024.[21]
12Barron, James (December 6, 2017). "Planetarium Opens in New Jersey, Ushering in a New Kind of Star Wars". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017. That may or may not explain the debut of the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere and the fourth largest in the world. It opens this week in Jersey City. The top scientist responsible for it, Paul Hoffman, the president and chief executive officer of the Liberty Science Center, boasted that it was so large that the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, the starry destination for generations of middle-school field trippers, would fit inside with room to spare.
↑Kitta MacPherson. "Innovation & Inspiration", The Star-Ledger, October 4, 2006.
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