In the days before HD projectors and IMAX, some of the most powerful projectors belonged to planetariums.

A remote desert lookout offers unparalleled views of the California badlands for those who brave the trek.

An important piece of history from mankind's journey to the moon sits in the lobby of a government science lab.

If you want to take a peek at Area 51, this is legally as close as you're going to get.

Where NASA's satellites and rovers phone home.

A world-class observatory in the California desert.

Towering basalt columns, a creation of fire and ice.

This former stomping grounds of the most eminent astronomers of the early 20th century.

NASA's leading space science lab started by a co-founder with deep ties to the occult.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

An abandoned Jazz Age dream home and con man's hideout in Death Valley.

The second-largest cave chamber in the world was discovered in 1898 by a 16-year-old and a friend known as "Pothead."

The ancient dwellings of the Puebloans, located in the cliffs of majestic mesas.

Home to the deepest rift anywhere on Earth.

The largest hot spring in the United States is, as the name suggests, a stunning show of natural color.

When ecosystems collide in the arid Southwest.

Seller of surplus nuclear research materials.

The land is full of geologic eye candy, such as otherworldly spires, mushroom-shaped hoodoos, and prehistoric fossils.

An artificial crater field that trained astronauts for lunar exploration.

Abandoned anti-ballistic missile base.

Space program, pneumatics and more, bits and pieces, for movie sets or the common man.

A Swedenborgian glass church surrounded by redwoods sits perched atop a massive landslide area.

Fourteen curious and controversial white bunnies sit in a circle near Newport Beach City Hall.

Stepping away from the glitz of mobsters and casinos to learn about the other history of Vegas.