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The Museum of Flight’s New Exhibit Explores Life in Orbit

The Museum of Flight’s New Exhibit Highlights the Wonder of Living in Space

By The Museum of Flight May 24, 2024

People are observing various displays and exhibits in a modern technology museum, including a central glass case with a model and an interactive touchscreen labeled "WAYPOINT," reminiscent of those found at the renowned Museum of Flight, that explores life in orbit.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Seattle magazine.

The Museum of Flight’s immersive new exhibition, Home Beyond Earth, goes to the heart of living in a place somewhere between Earth and Moon. With a focus on space stations past, present and future, Home Beyond Earth visualizes our orbital dreams and accomplishments with large digital projections and more than 50 artifacts, models, space-flown objects and uniforms. To maximize the experience, the exhibit offers digital passports so visitors can personalize their journey, and build an imagined life in a space station of their choice.

For some visitors from the Seattle-area, planning a future in space is more than just hypothetical. In 2023, Washington’s space industry boasted an economic impact of $4.6 billion annually while supporting more than 13,000 jobs. In the Puget Sound region, SpaceX builds more than 30 Starlink satellites per week. Based out of Redmond, Project Kuiper is gearing up to make four satellites per day in its Kirkland facility. Kent’s space giant, Blue Origin, is a prime contractor for NASA’s Artemis Moon missions and is also developing a space station called Orbital Reef — a subject featured in Home Beyond Earth.

A group of people sits and kneels in a room with a large window showing a view of Earth from space. The interior, part of the Museum of Flight's new exhibit on Life in Orbit, is unfinished with exposed insulation and beams.

 

Sooner or later, humanity’s dream of living in space will come true. Tourists will stay in cozy space hotels as commercial spaceflight takes off and space becomes the newest vacation destination. Orbital suburbs will redefine the family work/life balance. The performing and visual arts will comfort and challenge us in entirely new ways. In the meantime, Home Beyond Earth shows how far we have come to realize this vision and helps us ponder a future that may or may not be for you.

The Museum is also offering spaceflight-related programs and family activities nearly every week this year. Astronauts, space industry leaders, authors, and futurists will cover topics ranging from sci-fi and living in space with disabilities, to space archeology and space law. Experience Home Beyond Earth before the exhibit closes Jan. 20, 2025.

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