AIKEN --- Gary Senn has been intrigued with astronomy since childhood, and for many years he has shared his love for science with others as the director of a planetarium.

"I always enjoyed astronomy," said Dr. Senn, the director of the Dupont Planetarium at University of South Carolina Aiken. "And then when I had this opportunity (to be a planetarium director), it was a wonderful one, so I took it and ran."

Next month, he will share his enthusiasm for space with others as an important date in science approaches -- the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing, by Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969.

To commemorate the event, the planetarium will offer a show it produced, called To the Moon and Beyond , which will focus on the Apollo space program and the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The show, to be offered at 8 and 9 p.m. each Saturday during July, will also include special graphics and voice-overs by some locals.

Dr. Senn said the production is a testament to how the planetarium has grown its offerings since holding its first show in 1995. In past years, he said, Dupont would rely on larger planetariums with bigger staffs and more funding to provide shows that could be shown at the Aiken campus.

Now, Dupont is making its own productions.

"We are making that (the moon show) available to other planetariums," Dr. Senn said.

Dr. Senn said hundreds of hours can go into the making of a show at the planetarium, which uses a projection system displayed before a 45-seat auditorium.

Dr. Senn keeps busy wearing other hats at USC Aiken, serving as an associate professor and director of the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center.

He has been the planetarium director for 13 years, and in that time he's seen a lot of people come and go through the planetarium and an attached observatory, which opened in 2000 and features a large telescope.

He said about 10,000 people visit each year.

And with the approach of the 40th anniversary of man landing on the moon, Dr. Senn said he expects to see even more interest.

"I enjoy people experiencing new things, getting excited about them," he said. "And astronomy is just a natural thing because it's an easy thing to get excited about."

Reach Preston Sparks at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com