The San Diego Air & Space Museum Gives You the World!

San Diego Air & Space soars to new dimensions with new exhibit

(July 19, 2006) - Now there’s a new reason to visit the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Known for inspiring imaginations in flight, the Museum is now inspiring global imaginations with the opening of its first new major permanent exhibit since the introduction of the Apollo 9 Command Module in July 2004.

Hi-tech comes to the Walter M. Schirra Space Flight Gallery Thursday, July 20, 2006 with The Planetary Theater where visitors will step through portals of space to discover Mother Earth and other planets in the solar system from a spectacularly unique vantage point.

Using a 4-foot "Magic Planet" globe, and cutting edge projection technology, viewers access a truly captivating and visually stunning experience as they choose their journey via touch screen computer interface. Guests will take one look and drag others over to watch the astonishing images.

The brilliantly interactive exhibit will bring visitors within arms reach of the mysterious red planet Mars, trace GPS Satellite Orbit Tracks, while the Museum's one-of-a-kind GPS hangs overhead. The Magic Planet can also trace routes of historic long-distance flights, Lunar and interplanetary exploration such as Apollo lunar landing locations and rover driving routes and paths of Martian landers and rovers (Mariner, Viking, Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity), the exploration of Venus (Pioneer, Magellan), exploration of Jupiter (Galileo). Back on Earth, Oceans will drain allowing guests to view caverns and plate tectonics.

Even more unique, the Museum has included its spectacular "March of Transportation" mural painted by Juan Larrinaga that goes around the inside wall of the Ford Building. The mural is the largest in North America at approximately 450 feet long, depicting the development of transportation from caveman to spaceman from Larrinaga's 1936 perspective.

School children and science teachers have already experienced the Magic Planet's 'Wow!' factor with the Education Department's smaller version used in its 'School in the Park' and outreach programs.