Exhibitions

In the tense years of the Cold War, applications satellites evolved down two separate paths: one devoted to national security needs, the other to civilian interests.

The Human Spaceflight exhibition station illustrates one of the great achievements of the modern age as nations have developed the technology for human spaceflight.

Nation of Speed recounts our desire to become the fastest on land, sea, air, and space in the pursuit of commerce, power, and prestige.

One World Connected tells the story of how taking to the skies and stars fostered two momentous changes in everyday life: the ease in making connections across vast distances and a new perspective of Earth as humanity’s home.

Learn how rocketry got a boost in the 20th century, altering warfare and taking humans into space.

Learn about the broad range of science performed by vehicles that travel into the Earth's atmosphere and beyond. The relatively young field of space science ranges from Earth observation to planetary exploration to astronomy and astrophysics.

Destination Moon shows how an extraordinary combination of motivations, resources, and technologies made it at long last possible for humans to walk on the Moon.

The Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery probes the science and history of our exploration of planets and moons, telling the stories of the diversity of worlds circling our Sun and how exploring those worlds helps enhance our own understanding of Earth.

Extra-vehicular activity, or EVA—working outside a spacecraft—changed the nature of human spaceflight. This exhibition presents art, photography, artifacts, and personal accounts to explore EVA and contribute to its ongoing story.

Five hundred years ago, Christopher Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic, using the stars to guide him. Today, modern explorers are charting a course that may eventually take humanity out among the stars themselves. How and why have we come from seafaring to spacefaring? What challenges and choices do we face now?

The Where Next, Columbus? exhibition asked visitors to consider the motives and methods of exploration, as well as the options and possibilities for future space exploration.