Event name: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Event time and place: 2/24, Washington, DC
Apollo 11's Columbia
EXPLORING THE PLANETS
The Exploring the Planets gallery looks at the differences in each planet and how we explore them, including satellites and rovers. It also discusses the history of planetary exploration from simple telescopes to these more advanced technologies. Some of the concepts shown include how to survive a landing rover, how volcanoes created land on the moon and mars, and how the Kepler space telescope was used to find planets in other solar systems. The Kepler portion uses a model of the telescope and some images it took to show its capabilities. The rover landing portion mainly talks about Curiosity’s sky crane mechanism, with images and text describing how it works. This gallery includes many interactive components. Visitors can feel the surfaces of rocky planets, open panels to reveal different power sources for rovers, and use a touch screen to learn about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. I felt that these interactive elements were not much more effective at actually conveying information, but they may be more interesting to some, especially those who are younger.
DESTINATION MOON
The Destination Moon gallery shows the history of how we got to the moon, from simple aspirations (e.g. movies) to actual rockets and space suits. It also described the physics of getting to and orbiting the moon. Some of the displays shown include the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, what astronauts did on the moon, and an F-1 Engine. The gallery has the actual command module and flight plans used on the Apollo 11 mission with text descriptions. On the moon astronauts used different technologies to gather information, including a laser distance detector and a passive seismic experiment device. Models of these instruments were laid out on a fake moon surface with text describing how they worked. This exhibit did not have many interactive components, but one that stuck out was a touch screen that allowed you to build a rocket in different stages. This was a very effective way to teach how rockets are made since it guided you through the process.
ONE WORLD CONNECTED
The One World Connected gallery explores how we are able to be connected in the modern world using phones, computers, satellites, planes, etc. Some of the displays included a “Window on Earth” that shows the planet from space, the evolutions of communication from iridium phones to satellite GPS, and a jet engine. The “Window on Earth” showed an immersive video as if you were actually on the ISS looking down to Earth. The jet engine display allowed you to look at an actual jet engine with text describing its different components. This exhibit had the most interactive components of the three, including a giant globe where you could choose to project population density, flight paths, satellite density, and other metrics. There was also a display that showed how each person shapes the future and specific actions each person can take in different areas (e.g. climate change and loss of culture). Since these topics are relevant today, the interactive displays were very effective.All of these exhibits are geared towards people of any education level. They do a good job of making complex topics easy to understand and include interactive elements to encourage learning in kids.
Since astronomy is a constantly evolving field, it can be difficult to portray new advancements. The exhibits mainly focus on history and how we got to where we are today. In Exploring the Planets, there is a mention that exploration is ongoing, but there is not much beyond that. In One World Connected, there is an ongoing poll that asks what each age group thinks is the most important issue, which visitors can participate in. It also discusses modern issues like climate change which is extremely pertinent today.