Wichita ? Bringing science to the masses and inspiring the next generation of scientists are the ambitious goals of a conference in Wichita this week.

About 450 delegates of the International Planetarium Society are seeing the latest space technology and discussing how to inspire the next generation of explorers.

“People want to learn, but they also want to have a little fun,” said Darryl Davis, systems coordinator for the Boston Museum of Science. He and two colleagues were looking forward to seeing the new hardware and programs available to planetariums.

“We’re seeing more and more things happening all the time,” Davis said. “It’s exciting.”

Consultant Philip Groce is demonstrating Minolta’s Mediaglobe, a full-color, computer-generated planetarium system with a database of planets, galaxies and 6,000 stars. It sells for about $200,000 and is being marketed to schools, universities and small museums.

Groce led conventioneers on a tour of constellations, a mission to the moon and a trip back in time.

Elsewhere were booths for companies that make star projectors, planetarium software and even an inflatable planetarium that can be set up in a gymnasium or large classroom.

Lynne Talbot, a volunteer with the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, was especially excited about “Starry Night” software that let her travel the galaxy.

“Something like this would help me answer the tough questions third-graders ask,” Talbot said.

Jeffrey Rosendhal, a NASA astrophysicist, envisions people sitting in their local planetarium, or perhaps even at their home computers, watching live feeds from the latest mission to Mars.