A NASA exhibit on the Hubble and Webb space telescopes opens at the Everhart Museum this week \u2014 the first space show since a moon rock was displayed for one week in 1970.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Smithsonian-level stuff,\u201d CEO Tim Holmes said. NASA and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit team developed the first version of the exhibit two decades ago.<\/p>\n
The exhibit opens Wednesday and will run at least until July at the museum in Nay Aug Park, Scranton. A sneak peek was held during the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe\u201d has traveled to 28 states, with the nearest stops in New York state and Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 and released new findings this week. The exhibit also includes displays about the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021.<\/p>\n
The exhibit includes interactive kiosks. Patrons can point and click to zoom in on the big-screen map for close-ups of parts of space highlighted by the Hubble.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just for kids, it\u2019s also for adults,\u201d said Everhart curator James Lansing. \u201cI think they\u2019re both interested in it. And if it keeps people\u2019s interest in space, for me, that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 2,200-square-foot exhibit arrived in two 53-foot-long tractor-trailers. NASA subcontractors helped install it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crates were 10 feet tall,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cWe do not have a door in this 118-year-old building to get these things in here. So, we had to put a tent up outside to unload them. We had a forklift come. We had to take the railings off the back deck to get them through the Education Room to get them in here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aside from some incidental costs, NASA provides the exhibit for free. Typically, a small museum like the Everhart can\u2019t afford the rental fees charged by big traveling shows, Holmes said.<\/p>\n
The Everhart had to wait around two years. The show usually books two venues annually.<\/p>\n
The museum is having a big moment, Holmes said. An exhibit on the sitcom \u201cThe Office\u201d will run into the fall. A well-known toy train exhibit, \u201cScranton to Scale: Don Clark\u2019s Miniature Memories,\u201d is on display until March.<\/p>\n
The museum hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for those 60 and over, and students.<\/p>\n
There is free general admission for children 12 and under, Everhart members, North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association members, Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM) members, SNAP, WIC and EBT recipients, active and retired military and family.<\/p>\n
There is an extra charge for \u201cThe Office\u201d exhibit.<\/p>\n