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Elmo launches planetarium show

Sesame Street character donned space suit as cuddly astronaut

APTOPIX Elmo Smithsonian Planetarium
Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Quinn Colvin, 4, left, Owen Meier, 4, and Amani Williams, 4, center, all from Washington's Peabody Early Childhood Center, visit with Elmo, during an announcement about a new planetarium show for four to six year olds at the National Air and Space Museum, in Washington.
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By Brett Zongker
updated 5:19 p.m. ET April 21, 2009

WASHINGTON - Elmo is reporting for duty at the National Air and Space Museum, ready for a trip into outer space.

The beloved Sesame Street character donned a space suit Tuesday to introduce a planetarium show. It's the museum's first astronomy show designed for children 4 to 6 years old.

Elmo popped up before a huge replica of the Hubble Space Telescope as young fans looked on. He told the youngsters "Elmo the Elmonaut" is like an astronaut, but "only scarier."

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The planetarium show — "One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure" — opened last year in Beijing. It is also showing at Chicago's Adler Planetarium and New Jersey's Liberty Science Center.

The cuddly, red Muppet says his space adventure is "one small step for a monster and one giant leap for monsterkind."

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