The California Science Center unveiled Tuesday the first of many launch vehicles, engines and other artifacts set to be installed in the museum\u2019s 200,000-square-foot expansion coming to Exposition Park.<\/p>\n
Once complete, the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will include multi-level galleries built around a towering centerpiece \u2014 the space shuttle Endeavour \u2014 displayed in its 20-story vertical launch position.<\/p>\n
It\u2019ll be the only place in the world where visitors can see an authentic space shuttle in its \u201cGo for Stack\u201d position, which is what museum officials called the process of moving each of the space shuttle components into place.<\/p>\n
Museum admission will be free.<\/p>\n
Jeff Rudolph, president and CEO of the California Science Center, said the $450 million expansion is California\u2019s biggest \u201cendeavor\u201d yet to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enthusiasm that people have when they come in and see this stuff and get excited about it will hopefully lead to many more people, young and old, but particularly young people wanting to pursue more education in science,\u201d Rudolph told LAist.<\/p>\n
Museum officials expect to announce next year an opening date, according to Rudolph.<\/p>\n
A look inside the center<\/p>\n
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will feature three main galleries: the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, the Korean Air Aviation Gallery and the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.<\/p>\n
Guests will be guided through hundreds of exhibits and authentic artifacts focused on the exploration of the universe \u2014 including rocket ships that carried humans into space and telescopes used to view stars and galaxies beyond our reach.<\/p>\n
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A real Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach spans several stories tall in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.<\/p>\n
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The first artifacts in the expanded museum were placed in the Kenta Kresa Space Gallery, including a three-story-tall Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab in Long Beach.<\/p>\n
Adam Spice, chief financial officer of Rocket Lab, told LAist the Electron helped lower the cost of getting to space by sending satellites in smaller, cheaper rockets. The new center is an opportunity to get up close and personal with an Electron for the first time outside of a factory.<\/p>\n
Spice said he hopes it\u2019ll show visitors their dreams can become a reality.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can be part of something much bigger than probably they ever thought they could,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\n The first artifacts installed in the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center include a solid rocket booster segment. Kenneth Phillips, aerospace curator, shows the scale of the piece, which has flown into space several times.\n <\/p>\n
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Makenna Sievertson<\/p>\n
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\n The solid rocket booster segment will become a walk-through interactive experience in the Kent Kresa Space Gallery.\n <\/p>\n
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A segment of a solid rocket booster that flew into space several times is laid on its side on the second floor of the gallery.<\/p>\n
Kenneth Phillips, the California Science Center\u2019s aerospace curator, told LAist it\u2019ll be turned into an interactive exhibit with audio, video and educational graphics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s 12 feet in diameter, so people can actually walk through it and learn about the function of it from the inside out literally,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n
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Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with a space shuttle main engine.<\/p>\n
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A detailed model of a space shuttle main engine is set up next to the solid rocket booster. Three of those main engines helped boost space shuttles into orbit by providing about 20% of their power, Phillips said.<\/p>\n
What’s next<\/p>\n
Construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center started more than three years ago and is on track to be completed in the coming weeks, according to museum officials.<\/p>\n
With construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center weeks away from completion, crews have started to put in landscaping around the outside of the expansion.<\/p>\n
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Makenna Sievertson<\/p>\n
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The exterior of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Makenna Sievertson<\/p>\n
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The remaining exhibits and artifacts will then be installed over “many months,” Rudolph said. Officials expect to announce next year an opening date for the expansion.<\/p>\n