The Mueller Planetarium was named after its donor, Mr. Ralph S. Mueller who was a businessman from Cleveland. It was in 1894 that Mr. Mueller became first connected with the University of Nebraska. On March 23, 1958, the first ever planetarium in Nebraska was built. The new Mueller Planetarium became very busy during its first 6 months. More than 20,000 visitors locally and from far off states such as Kansas, Missouri and Iowa came to see the planetarium. The first projector used was the Spitz A2 model and interestingly, its first operators were Geology graduate students.

Now, the Mueller Planetarium can accommodate 80 people and is utilizing a full dome technology planetarium projector. It has also recently adopted the “ViewSpace” program of the Space Telescope Science Institute. To date, it is the 7th facility in the world to have this kind of technology.