Beyond Planet Earth: the Future of Space Exploration August 3, 2012

'Beyond Earth: The Future of Space Exploration' launches visitors into the exciting future of space exploration as it boldly speculates on humanity's next steps "out there" in our solar system and beyond. The exhibition features a full-size recreation of a lunar habitat, a model of an elevator reaching up into space, a walk-through diorama of the Martian surface, and challenging computer interactive exhibits. See authentic equipment and models of historic spacecraft from select voyages in the past. Learn about robotic missions that are currently headed deeper and deeper into our own solar system, and what they might reveal. Understand why geologists are so interested in specimens from moons and other planets and what we can learn from them. And explore some possible spectacular missions of the future: returning humans to the Moon, landing on and deflecting a potentially deadly asteroid, or traveling to Mars--and perhaps even establishing colonies there.