{"id":17193,"date":"2024-06-08T19:34:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-08T11:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/museum-of-flight-exhibition-celebrates-150-years-of-space-station-dreams-and-realities\/"},"modified":"2024-06-08T19:34:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T11:34:20","slug":"museum-of-flight-exhibition-celebrates-150-years-of-space-station-dreams-and-realities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/museum-of-flight-exhibition-celebrates-150-years-of-space-station-dreams-and-realities\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum of Flight exhibition celebrates 150 years of space station dreams and realities"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Retired NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger takes selfies in front of a super-sized space station window in the Museum of Flight\u2019s \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dream of having people live and work in space didn\u2019t start with billionaire Jeff Bezos, or even with rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun. Instead, you\u2019d have to look back at least as far as 1869 \u2014 a full century before humans walked on the moon.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just one of the fun facts you\u2019ll learn from the Museum of Flight\u2019s new exhibition, \u201cHome Beyond Earth,\u201d which opens today.<\/p>\n

Geoff Nunn, the museum\u2019s adjunct curator for space history, said this exhibit is meant to provide fun as well as education in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our goals was to go beyond the STEM of it, and really look at the underlying cultural connection and human fascination with living and working in space,\u201d Nunn said. \u201cUltimately, we want everyone who comes through this exhibit, whether or not they\u2019re interested in science and engineering, to think about how the space community is changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1869 version of the space station dream serves as an example. Back then, Edward Everett Hale wrote \u201cThe Brick Moon,\u201d a serialized novella about an artificial satellite that was built from bricks. The Museum of Flight\u2019s team adapted an illustration from the story to create a 3D-printed model of the masonry moon, complete with tiny figures and palm trees sticking up from the top of the globe.<\/p>\n

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The Brick Moon is the first known example of a \u201cspace station\u201d in the modern sense in literature. This 3D-printed model is based on an illustration that accompanied Edward Everett Hale\u2019s novella describing the totally fictional artificial satellite in 1869. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other displays trace the evolution of the space station concept through the 1950s, when Walt Disney turned von Braun\u2019s vision of a rotating space station into a TV show \u2026 the 1960s, when \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey\u201d picked up on the idea \u2026 the 1970s, when the Soviets and the Americans put up their first space stations \u2026 the 1980s and \u201990s, when Russia\u2019s Mir space station helped bridge the Cold War divide \u2026 leading all the way up to the present-day era of the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a 3D-printed model of the ISS \u2014 but not just any model. This one is hooked up to a stream of telemetry from the real-life space station. Computer-controlled mechanisms turn the model\u2019s solar arrays and other components ever so slowly to mimic what\u2019s happening in orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a Boeing creation,\u201d Nunn said. \u201cThere\u2019s a team at Boeing in Houston, and I ran into them at ISSRDC when it was here in Seattle and got to talking to them. I thought that the mimic idea was really, really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Engineering students from the University of Washington\u2019s WOOF 3D club created the museum\u2019s replica space station and hooked it up for the exhibition. Peder Nelson, the museum\u2019s digital engagement manager, said there\u2019s one component on the real ISS that isn\u2019t on the ISS Mimic model. \u201cWe\u2019re going to let the experts find that,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the one piece that would get knocked out of the way by the solar arrays, the way the 3D print turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

3D-printed plastic modules are spread across the table next to the ISS Mimic display, to give kids (and even retired astronauts) an opportunity to put together their own model space station.<\/p>\n

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ISS Mimic, the centerpiece of the \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit, is a 3D-printed model of the International Space Station that\u2019s connected to telemetry from the real-life space station and shifts its solar arrays to reflect the actual station\u2019s shifting configuration. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Retired NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger checks out 3D-printed space station modules at the \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Touchscreen monitors are scattered throughout the exhibition space in the museum\u2019s Red Barn wing. The first one is programmed to let you pick your favorite space station, real or fictional. Other screens ask you to choose the kind of environment you\u2019d like to live in and pick out the job you\u2019d like to do.<\/p>\n

A digital-token system keeps track of your space lifestyle choices. At the last interactive station, you can see which choices were the most popular among the exhibition\u2019s virtual space station residents. (When I checked the stats, no one had signed up to become a journalist.)<\/p>\n

Ariel Ekblaw, co-founder and CEO of the Aurelia Institute, was tickled to see how the exhibition turned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly meaningful for us, because our mission at Aurelia is to democratize access to space, and show more people around the world that there is a life in space worth living for them,\u201d said Ekblaw, who provided some of the flight hardware that\u2019s on display.<\/p>\n

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An interactive display lets museumgoers compare the stats on real-life and fictional space stations, including the Death Star from the Star Wars saga and the Citadel space station from the Mass Effect video-game franchise. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Mandy Faber, a graphic designer at the Museum of Flight, checks an interactive display that keeps track of the futuristic lifestyle choices made by exhibit visitors. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibition\u2019s open-access perspective on living in space resonated with a trio of spacefliers who were given a sneak peek at \u201cHome Beyond Earth.\u201d Chris Sembroski \u2014 who rode a SpaceX Crew Dragon into orbit in 2021 and now works as an avionics testing engineer at Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture in Kent, Wash. \u2014 said the exhibition is designed for museumgoers who are \u201ccurious, but not space-curious for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about inspiring people to think about themselves in space,\u201d he said. \u201cSpace is supposed to be open for all, and that\u2019s what all these new space companies are working on creating.\u201d<\/p>\n

3D-printed materials are much in evidence in the exhibit space. One of the artifacts on display is a replica of the Refabricator, a device built by Bothell, Wash.-based Tethers Unlimited that tested techniques for recycling 3D-printer plastic on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

Retired NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, who flew to the ISS on the shuttle Discovery in 2010 and now focuses on STEM advocacy and education, said the emphasis on 3D printing was fitting for an exhibit about homes beyond Earth. In the future, space station crews probably won\u2019t need to have so much of their equipment shipped up from Earth. \u201cYou could make your own tools, and then recycle them and make something else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then there\u2019s the other piece, too. I was working with fifth-graders last week, and one kid was like, \u2018I\u2019m really into 3D printing, but I didn\u2019t know there would be jobs [in space] for me in the future. And I was like, \u2018Yes!\u2019\u2026 It was really a cute moment,\u201d Metcalf-Lindenburger said.<\/p>\n

Soyeon Yi became the first South Korean citizen in space when she flew to the ISS for an 11-day stay in 2008. Now she\u2019s an educator and business executive who\u2019s based in the Seattle area, but she still yearns to return to orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always want to go back if I have a chance, because whatever you\u2019ve done before, you always have a small little thing you want to do,\u201d she explained. \u201cSometimes I doubt myself: Did I really go there? Because the girl who had an interview is the younger me. It\u2019s not myself anymore \u2026 It\u2019s already 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yi probably won\u2019t have 15 more years to return to the ISS. If NASA follows through on its long-range plan, the space station will be deorbited by 2031. But NASA\u2019s plan also calls for commercial space stations to take the place of the ISS. The final gallery in the \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibition shows off the concepts for future orbital outposts that are being developed by commercial ventures including Axiom Space and Orbital Reef.<\/p>\n

Because Yi\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 combines spaceflight and business development, I had to ask whether she\u2019s been contacted by any of those ventures. \u201cNot yet,\u201d she said. \u201cBut if I can have a chance, I would love to work with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d is a temporary exhibit housed in the Museum of Flight\u2019s William E. Boeing Red Barn. The exhibit is free with museum membership, and included with general admission. Check out the Museum of Flight\u2019s website for today\u2019s schedule of opening-day events. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a bonus selection of pictures from the exhibition:<\/strong> <\/p>\n

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A 1950s-era scale model at the \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit is based on rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun\u2019s concept for a rotating space station, which was popularized by Disney\u2019s \u201cMan in Space\u201d TV program. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This model is based on a 1959 Boeing concept for a \u201cCounter-Moon\u201d space research station that would have orbited Earth at a gravitational balance point that\u2019s exactly opposite the moon. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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This Boeing model for a nuclear-powered space station is one of many proposed concepts that never made it past the concept stage. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A Pan Am spaceship approaches the rotating space station from \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey\u201d in a scale model built for the \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit by Seattle modeler Tim Nelson,. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Among the artifacts on display is the flight suit that NASA astronaut Ed Gibson wore when he was on the Skylab space station in 1973-74. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A scale model of China\u2019s Tiangong space station is on display. (Museum of Flight Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The final gallery of the \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit highlights next-generation space station concepts, including Blue Origin\u2019s rendering of a self-contained space habitat at left, the Orbital Reef space station at center and Axiom Station at right. A 42-foot-wide video display showing imagery of Earth as seen from space is on the far wall. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retired NASA astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger takes selfies in front of a super-sized space station window in the Museum of Flight\u2019s \u201cHome Beyond Earth\u201d exhibit. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) The dream of having people live and work in space didn\u2019t start with billionaire Jeff Bezos, or even with rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun. Instead, you\u2019d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[717,4450,4029,4491],"class_list":["post-17193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-international-space-station","tag-museum-of-flight","tag-space-history","tag-space-outposts"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}