Carnegie Science Center unveils most ambitious exhibit in 30-year history
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Carnegie Science Center just unveiled its most ambitious exhibit in its 30-year history.
"Mars: The Next Giant Leap" is a $4.5 million dollar project that has been two years in the making.
Think about what it would be like to live on Mars. What kind of house? How do you grow food? And what future do we choose These are some of the many questions visitors are asked to ponder at the new exhibit.
Jason Brown, the director of Carnegie Science Center, said, "The whole idea behind the exhibition is looking at our life on Earth thru the lens of Mars."
Brown says the center received questions from the local community and incorporated them into the exhibit, which is already getting reviews that are out of this world.
A group of students from Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School in Baldwin was the first kids to see the exhibit. Junior Mulbah, a sixth grader, said, "It's a 10 out of 10."
Seventh grader Jocelyn Harley said, "I think it's just crazy to think about what's beyond Earth."
Kayleigh Johnson, an eighth grader, said of learning about space, "There's endless possibilities to it. There's no end."
The exhibit features all kinds of interactive areas. Kids love making the robotic rovers travel over Mars' rough terrain, learning about the planet and the moon in an interactive question-and-answer session, and seeing how plants could grow on Mars using hydroponics. All of it relates back to life here on Earth.
"The same technology we can use to grow food on Mars can be used to help with food insecurity here on Earth," Brown said.
Pittsburgh has a growing space industry, with Astrobotic building the next lunar lander just a few blocks away, and Carnegie Mellon University's robotics institute.
Mayor Ed Gainey hopes this exhibit will inspire local kids to pursue careers in space and STEM.
"A new venture, exploration to Mars, something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. Sometimes I feel like I live in Star Wars," Gainey said.
The new Mars exhibit opens to members Friday and to the general public on Saturday. It's a permanent exhibit but is designed to evolve and change with space exploration itself.
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