On Friday, November 13 Denver Museum of Nature & Science will launch the grand re-opening of the Space Odyssey exhibit. The space-themed exhibit, which made its home in the museum over a decade ago, has been revamped with new interactive activities, innovative sub-exhibits and more for a whole new experience.
The exhibit has been fully renovated with brand new features that were inspired by ideas brainstormed from the community. The theme is summed up by one question:”How do we know what we know about space?” Some of those ideas included taking the time to not only take into consideration the science of space but the idea and magic of it. The aim of the exhibit? To inspire those of all ages and backgrounds and to give a look into the wild and mysterious universe we call home.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science experiences & partnerships director Jodi Schoemer stated, “Conversations with the community also led us to embrace how science fiction can be a link to loving and understanding space, which led to experiences like the Fantasy Spaceship where you sit in the captain’s chair on the bridge like something out of ‘Star Trek’ to work together to explore, experiment, and make decisions. It’s a fun way to let your imagination run wild through space.”
After years of planning with community input, the team behind the exhibit was able to create a fully immersive and interactive experience with towers that light-up with moving parts, a fully functioning spaceship, a crater impact machine and even a programmable Mars rover within a replica Mars landscape.
When exploring the space-themed exhibit you can also experience a launch simulator through virtual reality, listen to creation stories of the universe from different Indigenous cultures by a campfire, walk through a Sensory Spacewalk with more than 11,000 stars above your head and more – all to invoke the wonders that the universe and space have to hold.
“We are so grateful to everyone who shared their visions for the new Space Odyssey design with us. You encouraged us to embrace the power of imagination as inspiration,” George Sparks, Museum President & CEO said. “Our greatest hope is that by discovering how we know about the marvels of the universe that we live within, that guests will be inspired to invent, to explore, to follow their curiosity and to imagine what more there is to know.”
Denver Museum of Nature & Science is also making conscious efforts to keep the exhibit safe and sanitized for all who visit. The exhibit has a special crew that sweeps through the exhibit as visitors enter and do a full loop to clean as they leave. The exhibit also only allows a limited amount of visitors in at a time with allotted time slots for a socially distanced experience.
The Space Odyssey exhibit will be open to the public starting November 13 at 9 a.m. The exhibit is free with general museum admission here and a reserved time slot here.
Denver Museum of Nature & Science is located at 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver.
All photography by Adrienne Thomas.