Futures in Space, Opening July 28

Futures in Space explores how commercial spaceflight is changing who gets to go to space. One way the gallery tells that story is through two spaceflight garments worn by private space travelers. Geoscientist Sian Proctor wore this SpaceX spacesuit (left) on the first all-civilian spaceflight, Inspiration4. She became the first Black woman to serve as mission pilot on a human spaceflight mission during the three-day orbital spaceflight. Engineer Katya Echazarreta wore this Blue Origin flight suit (right) on the company's NS-21, becoming the first Mexican-born woman in space. Her sub-orbital spaceflight was sponsored by Space for Humanity’s citizen astronaut program.

Since the 1980s, children and adults alike have lived out their astronaut dreams at Space Camp, a weeklong sleepaway camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Space and Rocket Center team collaborated with experts from NASA and the aerospace industry, as well as educators, to develop the first Space Camp curriculum. The weeklong program culminated in a simulated space mission, with each camper playing the role of astronaut or flight controller. A few years ago, one of our curators went to Space Camp — for research of course! — and a model rocket she built is in Futures in Space to tell the story of how Space Camp helps Earthlings engage with space. Read more in a new blog.

Futures in Space also explores how play and pop culture help us imagine potential futures in space. Visitors to the exhibition are greeted by one of science fiction’s most helpful robots — R2-D2. This custom-built replica of the Star Wars droid was loaned to the Museum by Adam Savage, host of MythBusters and a former model-maker for Industrial Light & Magic, a digital film studio founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas in 1975. The home-built model embodies the enthusiasm of fans, hobbyists, and tinkerers who have embraced R2-D2 and other science fiction robots as emblems of imagined space futures.

Today, more and more countries are involved in space exploration than ever before. Futures in Space features a saree worn by Nandini Harinath, the deputy operations director for India's Mars Orbiter Mission. When it joined our collection, conservators at the Museum had to assess the saree's condition, prepare it for display, and drape it on its mannequin. Take a peek behind the scenes in a new video.