What We DId Last Summer (Oops! I mean 2015);Space: An Out-Of-Gravity Experience

Living ten minutes from the Science Museum of Minnesota has been great.  In the summer of 2015, the whole family took the opportunity to spend the afternoon at their traveling exhibit on Space.  The only bad thing about it was that it wasn't permanent. On the upside, it is traveling the country.  As of this posting, the exhibit is on view in Portland, Oregon and is scheduled to open in Boston in 2018.



Solomon inside the space station simulator.  Though they couldn't get rid of gravity, they certainly tried.  The entire room rotated around you, leaving no meaning to 'up' 'down' or 'sideways.'  The whole experience was much cooler than I thought it would be.

Nova trying to pick things up with a pressurized astronaut's glove--I tried it too--very challenging.

The blue suit on the mannequin is actually a pair of space pajamas.  They made me think of my sister, who is a costume designer.  The loops are for 'hooking in' so you don't float around too much at night.  There is also special compression, to combat the effects of weightlessness on the human body.



The girls playing with a doll house version of the international space station.

One of my favorite parts of the exhibit were nine jars of peanut butter, all weighted for what they would feel like in the atmospheres of the moon, the Earth, and the other planets.