Up, up and away — in a trebuchet

Tuesday, July 26 — There's not much of a chance of rain tonight. However, gallons of water will be flying through the air andhurtling down to the ground in Valley Court Park indowntown East Lansing. Anyone in the area is also encouraged to bring his orher sunglasses for this event.

These discordant details will not be the resultof a bizarre weather phenomenon — or any other sort of impending apocalypse — butrather the product of a giant catapult.

Tonight at 7 p.m., the Impression 5 sciencecenter will demonstrate the capabilities of trebuchet catapults as part ofEast Lansing’s Play in the Park summer activity series.

Several trebuchets of various sizes will be setup for this family-friendly, hands-on demonstration. Participants will bechallenged to adjust the counterweights of the catapults in order to flinggallons of water varying distances across the park. They will learn about thescience behind gravity and how to determine a trajectory path, and of course,they will get to watch things fly and splatter.

“It’sageless in a sense,” said Micaela Balzer, education director of the Impression5 science center. “Who doesn’t like to see things being thrown into the air?”

However, Balzer hasan important safety recommendation. “Wear sunglasses,” she urges anyoneinterested in attending. “People want to look up at the sky to see it all, andwearing sunglasses is a must.”

In theunlikely event of stormy weather, it will be canceled.

Visit cityofeastlansing.com/communityeventsfor more information.