Even before getting to the exhibit, “Astronaut: Your Journey Begins on Earth,” visitors could tell that it was a smashing success.
The din of children calling out excitedly overflowed the space on the third floor of the Reading Public Museum and echoed down the stone steps.
Add to that the authentic noise of a launch simulator just inside the entrance to the exhibit. Here, children and intrepid adults can watch the video of live feed from an actual launch and feel their seats shake as their “rocket” lifts off the pad and blasts into orbit with a throaty roar, punctuated by voices from ground control methodically providing data on the launch.
“I liked the extra bumpy part,” said Chloe Smith, 7, of Wyomissing.
The virtual astronauts can see what’s happening on video screens, one showing the sky ahead of the nose of the vehicle, which slowly darkens from sky blue to a spectacular view of the Milky Way splashed across the night sky.
Another screen shows the ground behind them receding until it becomes the curve of the Earth, and stages of the rocket being jettisoned.
“The staff says it’s the best exhibit we’ve ever hosted,” said Emily Moore, the museum’s manager of marketing and digital media.
Asked why, she replied, “It’s the quality, and everything there is to do.”
Many things to do
Indeed, “Astronaut: Your Journey Begins on Earth” is many things to do.
In addition to sampling the excitement of a launch, visitors can experience and learn what it takes to become an astronaut: team building, training, physical conditioning, etc.
“Houston, We Have a Problem,” for example, requires that two people on opposing sides of a module work together to keep the ship habitable.
One person reads the data on conditions that are going awry, while another on the opposite side has access to the solutions for the problems and calls out which levers to move or buttons to push.
Failure to work effectively can mean CO2 or oxygen levels reaching dangerous levels, or fuel cells going empty.
Elsewhere, videos running at the end of a mock space station – taken in the real space station – show how simple things such as eating or washing your hair pose special challenges and even risks in zero gravity.
The sights are strange to behold, from hair standing straight up to globs of water floating around in front of the astronaut until they are gobbled up.
Another exhibit lets visitors pick certain foods, to see which are safe to eat on a space station, and which will make life miserable for the astronauts.
Visitors may be surprised to learn that some very common foods are a no-no when living in zero gravity. Crumbs, for example, don’t fall to the floor. They float around and eventually go into somebody’s eye or nose.
Wearing bulky gloves
And have you ever tried to fix a malfunctioning piece of equipment while wearing bulky gloves such as those used during EVA, extra-vehicular activity, i.e., space walks?
Visitors can get a feel for that by putting their hands into thick gloves and attempting to assemble simple nuts and bolts, using basic tools, in a transparent dome.
And kids can burn off some excess energy while learning about G-forces. A manually-powered G-force simulator, very much like the teacup rides at amusement parks, has proven to be almost as popular as the launch module, with kids and adults – including museum staff. On busy days people are waiting to enter, and a few of them stagger out of the simulator, happy but dizzy after energetic go-rounds.
“I almost got sick, but I loved it!” said Jesse Desiato, 11, of Royersford, Montgomery County, as he emerged from the simulator.
Colleen Spease-Mikucki, STEM and family education coordinator at the museum, points out that, more than just fun, the goal of the exhibit is to for children to gain a better interest in space exploration.
The takeaway is the many facets of the exhibit, she said.
“Children have an inherent interest in space, but can they do it?” she asked. “They are learning that there’s a lot more to it.”
Plenty more to it
Plenty more.
“The Right Clothes” gets into the special protection astronauts must wear for launch and EVA. Kids can even try on a flight suit, like the one the astronauts in the space station videos are wearing.
More teamwork is emphasized in “Working Together for Team Astronaut,” which requires four players: pilot, scientist, communications and astronaut.
What about getting to the destination? “Landing Safely to Explore” gets into that.
Does living in space, or more accurately, in a zero-gravity environment have any effects on a person?
Its impact on vision, on bone mass, are part of a module that points out other body changes that astronauts must cope with.
What about sleeping? Kids can strap themselves into bunks on the side of the space station wall. Of course, in space they would not be standing up, as there is no up in zero gravity. That’s why the hook-and-loop fastener: to keep them on their bunks.
The space station also includes a commode and an explanation about this necessary feature.
Earthy, perhaps, but by the time the visitors exit the exhibit and return to terra firma, they’ll have more than an inkling about what it takes to reach and explore the final frontier.
Related events
March 22: “Senior Series,The Scarf and Goggle Days of Men in Space.” Presented by Bob Button
May 3: “National Space Day Family Night Out”
Exhibit has wide appeal
Wendy Koller, manager of education at the Reading Public Museum, can testify to the drawing power of the current exhibit, “Astronaut: Your Journey Begins on Earth.”
Schools from as far away as Harrisburg, Palmerton in Lehigh County, Carbon County and the Philadelphia suburbs have brought students to the exhibit.
She noted that the museum also holds special events, such as activities sleepovers for student groups, and had hosted one recently specifically for the astronaut exhibit, with a focus on science.
Organizations that wish to organize such an event should contact Koller at 610-371-5850 or wendy.koller@readingpublicmuseum.org.
Contact Felix Alfonso Pena: life@readingeagle.com.
