Worcester's EcoTarium is set to open a nationally touring exhibit about space exploration and life aboard the International Space Station, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for 11 a.m. next Saturday, November 14. Journey to Space will occupy the museum's Stoddard Exhibition Hall, giving visitors hands-on access to simulators, a dollhouse-sized space station model, and a full-size mock-up of a lab module that slowly rotates around the people standing inside it.
A Rotating Lab and Hands-On Gear
According to This Week in Worcester, the exhibit's centerpiece is a full-size mock-up of the U.S. Destiny lab module that slowly rotates around visitors as they move through it. The same report notes that guests can also operate drop towers, water rockets, a model ion engine, and a robotic arm, giving them a feel for the mechanics astronauts rely on in orbit.
The exhibit also includes a space station dollhouse, a toilet mock-up, a depressurized glove box, and a spacesuit photo spot, per the outlet's reporting. The opening ceremony is scheduled to run from 11 to 11:30 a.m., according to a listing from Discover Central Massachusetts, which confirms the same Saturday, November 14 date and time window for the ribbon cutting and exhibit opening.
Seven Topics, Decades of Space History
The exhibit covers seven topic areas, including radiation, vacuum, and astronauts' daily routines in weightlessness, per the article. It also displays relics from 50 years of space exploration, including the Canyon Diablo meteorite, according to the museum. Journey to Space is scheduled to run through April 25, 2027, giving Worcester families a full winter and spring season to visit.
Who Built the Exhibit
Journey to Space was designed and developed by the Science Museum of Minnesota, in partnership with the International Space Station Office of NASA's Johnson Space Center and the California Science Center, according to a release distributed via PR Newswire. The exhibition premiered at the Science Museum of Minnesota in 2015 and has since toured museums across the country, according to the Science Museum of Minnesota, which describes the show as scalable from 5,000 to 10,000 square feet and typically leased in three-month blocks.
Earlier stops give a sense of the exhibit's scale elsewhere. At the Minnesota State Fair, Journey to Space filled a 10,000-square-foot footprint with free admission and included two robotic arms that let visitors try moving objects as they would in orbit, according to the Star Tribune. The California Science Center hosted its own run of the exhibition and an accompanying 3D film from October 29, 2015, through May 8, 2016, featuring a full-scale Destiny Lab replica built to challenge visitors' sense of orientation, per the PR Newswire release.
Tickets, Hours, and Access
Visitors may enter the exhibit with general admission Tuesday through Friday, but weekend visitors must buy a separate Journey to Space ticket on Saturdays and Sundays, This Week in Worcester reports. Nonmembers pay $7 per person in addition to general admission, while members can enter free with tickets reserved through an active membership account. Bank of America sponsors Journey to Space locally.
The EcoTarium is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed Mondays, with free parking on-site. Founded in 1825, the museum sits on a 55-acre campus that includes a three-floor interactive science center, the Alden Planetarium, a wildlife zoo, and outdoor nature trails.
