Cosmosphere facts for kids
Main entrance (2003)
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| Established | 1962 |
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| Location | 1100 North Plum Street Hutchinson, KS 67501 USA |
| Type | Space Museum |
| Collection size | 15,000 |
| Visitors | 150,000 / year |
The Cosmosphere is an amazing space museum and learning center in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. It's packed with real space artifacts from both the United States and Russia. It also offers cool programs to teach you about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
Contents
Exploring the Cosmosphere
The Cosmosphere started as a small planetarium in 1962. Today, it's a huge building with one of the biggest collections of Russian space items outside of Moscow. It also has the second-largest collection of US space items, right after the famous National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C..
Inside, you'll find four main areas to explore:
- The Hall of Space Museum
- The Justice Planetarium
- The Carey Digital Dome Theater
- Dr. Goddard's Lab, which has exciting live science shows about rockets!
The Cosmosphere also hosts fun summer camps for all ages. They offer special STEM education programs for school field trips, groups, and scouts. These programs help prepare students for college and future careers.
The Cosmosphere is the only museum in Kansas that is connected with the Smithsonian Institution. This means it's a really important place for history and science!
Cool Updates to the Museum
The museum keeps getting better!
- In 2012, the Carey Digital Dome Theater got a big upgrade to a super clear 4K digital projection system.
- In 2015, the Justice Planetarium was completely redone. It now uses a modern digital projection system to show you the stars.
- In 2021, some of the museum's oldest galleries were updated. These include the German Gallery, the Redstone and Sputnik Gallery, and the Kennedy Theater. They got fresh paint, new graphics, and better sound to make the exhibits even more exciting.
Bringing Space History to Life
The Cosmosphere has a special team called SpaceWorks. They are experts at fixing up real US spacecraft for museums all over the world. Some of their amazing work can be seen at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.
Two famous examples of their work are right here at the Cosmosphere:
- The Apollo 13 Command Module Odyssey
- The Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft
The SpaceWorks team also helped create props and replicas for famous movies and TV shows. They built about 80% of the items for the movie Apollo 13. They also made replicated spacecraft for Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D and the TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon.
Amazing Space Collection
The Cosmosphere has a huge collection of over 13,000 space artifacts. It's the largest collection of both US and Russian space items in the world!
Here are some of the real flown items you can see:
- A Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane
- The Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft
- The Gemini 10 space capsule
- The Command Module Odyssey from Apollo 13
Outside the building, you can see real Redstone and Titan II rockets. These were used in the early US space programs. A very special item on display is a real Moon rock from Apollo 11. This was the first mission to land humans on the Moon!
Every item at the Cosmosphere is either:
- A real artifact that flew in space
- A "flight-ready backup" (meaning it's exactly like the one that flew)
- An engineering model
- A super accurate replica
The museum takes you on a journey through space history. It starts with early rocket experiments during World War II. Then it moves through the exciting Space Race and Cold War. Finally, it shows modern space travel with the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and even SpaceShipOne and commercial spaceflight.
Highlights from the Collection
Here are some of the cool items you can see, organized by where they came from:
Germany
- World War II era:
- A real V-1 flying bomb missile
- A real V-2 rocket
- A Walter HWK 109-509 rocket engine
- Cold War era:
- A piece of the Berlin Wall
Russia / Soviet Union
- Early satellites:
- Early space programs:
- A Vostok space capsule (like the ones used by early Soviet cosmonauts)
- A Voskhod 2 space capsule
- Joint space programs with the US:
- A full-size replica of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Craft
- Other space items:
- Real Russian space suits
United States
- Winged aircraft:
- A real Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance plane
- A real Northrop T-38 Talon jet trainer used by NASA
- Real rocket engines from the North American X-15 program
- A replica of the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, used in the movie The Right Stuff
- A real engine from the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, flown by pilot Chuck Yeager
- Early satellites:
- A replica of the Explorer 1 satellite
- A backup of the Vanguard 1 satellite
- Mercury space program:
- The Liberty Bell 7 Mercury spacecraft, found at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. It's special because the Cosmosphere owns it!
- A real Mercury-Redstone Launch Vehicle rocket standing tall outside
- Gemini space program:
- The real Gemini 10 space capsule
- A real Agena target vehicle docking collar
- A real Titan II rocket standing tall outside
- Apollo space program:
- The real Apollo 13 command module Odyssey
- A full-size replica of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (Moon buggy)
- A full-size replica of the Lunar Module
- The real Apollo White Room
- A real Moon rock collected during Apollo 11
- Real cameras and other items carried on Apollo flights
- Parts of a Rocketdyne F-1 engine found in the ocean
- Space Shuttle space program:
- A full-size replica of the left side of the Space Shuttle Endeavour
- A piece of tile from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
- Other space items:
- Real American space suits
See also
- Strataca, a salt mine museum, also in Hutchinson
- Combat Air Museum in Topeka
- Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita
- Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal
- List of aerospace museums
- List of museums in Kansas
Images for kids
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The Apollo 13 command module on display (2010)
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Interior view of the Apollo 13 capsule (2009)
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Liberty Bell 7 on display (2006)
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The Gemini 10 space capsule on display
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German V-2 rocket on display (2013)
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Flight-ready backup of Soviet Sputnik 1 on display (2008)
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A replica of the Bell X-1 Glamorous Glennis, used in the 1983 film The Right Stuff
