Explore the extraordinary conditions of human space travel with the launch of Journey to Space, a new special exhibition opening at Frost Science on Saturday, May 25. Journey to Space provides guests with a hands-on, climb-aboard experience that explores what it takes to live and work in space.
This exhilarating special exhibition uses interactive exhibits and authentic artifacts to immerse guests in the astounding aspects of life in space, including the very real dangers that astronauts face during their missions above Earth and the adaptations that engineers have developed to help them survive while in space. Guests will learn about weightlessness and the problems that come with long-term space living, play with water rockets to learn about launch mechanics, and utilize drop towers to discover how familiar objects act differently in space’s weightless environment.
Through games, multimedia components, and interactive exhibits, guests will learn how astronauts eat, sleep, and even use the bathroom in space. They’ll experience firsthand the difficulties of working in space, from controlling a robotic arm to managing the limited power supply available to keep life support systems operational to determining why working in a space glove is so difficult.
The exhibition’s showstopping feature is a full-scale, climb-aboard mock-up of the Destiny Lab, the primary research facility for U.S. payloads on the International Space Station (ISS). The Destiny Lab’s rotating mechanism will give museum guests the sensation of floating while they are given a virtual tour of the lab by astronauts who have worked inside. As they continue to explore Journey to Space, they’ll find incredible footage of astronauts living and working in space and see interviews in which they reflect on the challenges and accomplishments of their unique line of work.
Journey to Space is presented by the Science Museum of Minnesota and the California Science Center, with support from NASA.
The exhibition will be on view from Saturday, May 25, 2024, through Sunday, October 6, 2024, inside the Hsiao Family Special Exhibition Gallery on the first floor of the museum. Admission to Journey to Space is included with all museum admission tickets. For more information on the exhibition, please visit frostscience.org/space.