The Winter Olympics may be over, but men's figure skating champion and Naperville native Evan Lysacek will be twirling and whirling on a television near you. Prompted by a tweet from Dancing With the Stars professional dancer Cheryl Burke which invited him to join the reality television series, Lysacek actively expressed interest in joining the show after he won gold in Vancouver. All of the hype became a reality, and Lysacek was formally announced as a cast member on the coming season of DWTS beginning March 22. He'll join "celebrities" like Pamela Anderson, Shannon Doherty, Kate Gosselin and Buzz Aldrin [Ed's Note: The second man on the moon reduced to competing with Kate Gosselin and Pam Anderson? WTF? - M.G.]. more ›

The fact that today marks the anniversary of Apollo 11's liftoff might not have anything to do with Chicago specifically, but the Adler Planetarium will be celebrating the mission and its successful landing on the Moon with a number of events in the next few days. If you're a space dork like a number of Chicagoistas (and if you were watching the shuttle launch on the web yesterday, you know who you are) you might want to check some of these out. more ›

Forty years after their historic four-day space mission, Capt. James Lovell and Dr. Buzz Aldrin were reunited with the Gemini 12 spacecraft at the Adler Planetarium. Lovell (above, right) remarked that the capsule looks more spacious than it actually is but that it's “a good bird.” Aldrin (left) asked his old friend in jest: “are you ready to fly again?” And they exchanged a look suggesting that's not such a crazy idea. During the... more ›