USA: Space Center Houston Opens Interactive Mars Exhibition
Texas’ Space Center Houston recently opened “Mission Mars”, an interactive exhibition about the so-called “red planet”, which offers visitors the possibility to peer inside a NASA “Orion” spacecraft research model and to learn more about the evolution and formation of Mars. The highlights of the exhibition – which was planned, designed and managed by Jack Rouse Associates – includes an approx. 14 meter high (45 feet) model of the “Space Launch System” (SLS), a heavy expandable launch vehicle being designed by NASA, as well as a 4K technology video production showing a virtual Mars landscape with rovers exploring the planet. Furthermore, the exhibition features a look at how Mars and “Martians” have been illustrated in pop culture and there is a collection of three rare Mars meteorites on display for a limited time.
“Mission Mars” has opened in due time for the 25th anniversary of Space Center Houston this year and amounts to a multi-million-Dollar investment. NASA’s Office of Education provided a grant through the Competitive Program for Museums, Science Centers, Planetariums and NASA Visitor Centers, while American global aerospace, defense and security company Lockheed Martin supplied the Orion capsule research model, along with financial support. Beside the new exhibition, Space Center Houston is excited to have reached a new record in its attendance figures, having welcomed more than one million visitors in 2016. (eap)
