A public television station in Boynton Beach has become one of the more surprising places in Palm Beach County to walk on the Moon. The Moonwalkers: An Immersive Journey with Tom Hanks opened Thursday, September 24, inside a 360-degree dome at South Florida PBS, 3401 S. Congress Ave., and runs through March 30, 2027. A second immersive show, a National Geographic exhibition on Jane Goodall, follows on October 23.

A studio turned into a launch pad

South Florida PBS, home of WPBT and WXEL, is better known for what it puts on the air than for what it puts inside its building. That is changing. The station has turned its Boynton Beach studios into a ticketed immersive venue, and it opened with a big one: a cinematic space experience created by Tom Hanks with Lightroom, written by Hanks and Christopher Riley, and narrated by Hanks himself.

The visit starts with a short pre-show inside the dome, Making The Moonwalkers, in which Hanks and the creative team explain how restored NASA archives, new filming and immersive sound were put together. Then the main show takes over the room. Projected all the way around you at enormous scale, it moves from a Saturn V launch to the Apollo Moon landing and the first steps on the lunar surface, then forward to NASA's Artemis program, with new conversations between Hanks and the Artemis II astronauts about going back.

Talk to an astronaut, stand beside the Eagle

The dome is only part of it. After the film, guests move through interactive exhibits. A holographic astronaut answers questions about training for spaceflight and what daily life aboard a spacecraft is really like. There is a life-size replica of the Eagle, the lunar module that carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the surface, and the station points out that the lunar module is still the only lander ever used in human spaceflight, carrying crews to the Moon six times between 1969 and 1972. Photo setups inspired by the Apollo missions round out the walk-through.

The cinematic portion lasts 55 minutes, and the station suggests budgeting about 40 more for the exhibits, photos and gift shop, so call it an hour and a half. It is rated for all ages.

Tickets, hours and parking

  • Where: South Florida PBS, 3401 S. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach.
  • When: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., through March 30, 2027. Closed Mondays.
  • Tickets: $45 general; $38 for seniors, students, military and first responders; $22 for children 3 to 12; $40 each for groups of 10 or more.
  • Parking: Free at the studios.

The station also says that anyone facing financial hardship can email its immersive team and ask for help attending, with requests handled case by case as space allows. That is unusual for a ticketed attraction, and it fits a public broadcaster's mission.

Next up: Jane Goodall's Gombe, from October 23

The Moon is not the only trip on the schedule. On October 23, the station opens Becoming Jane, an exhibition organized and traveled by the National Geographic Society with the Jane Goodall Institute. It traces Goodall's early years, puts visitors inside an immersive projection of Tanzania's Gombe Stream National Park, where she studied chimpanzees, and includes a recreation of her research tent and a life-size hologram-style projection of Goodall herself.

Becoming Jane runs through January 24, 2027, Tuesday through Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., takes about 75 minutes and carries the same ticket prices as The Moonwalkers. For a family with a space fan and an animal lover, that is a two-visit season at one address on Congress Avenue.

Why it is worth the drive

For Palm Beach County, the appeal is the address. This one sits on Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach, with free parking and a run long enough to catch on a slow weekday, a rainy weekend or a visit from out-of-town grandparents. Weekday mornings are likely the calmest time to go, and with the show running through March, there is no need to rush the first month. Book through the station's Moonwalkers page.