Skip to content

The Museum of Flight’s New Exhibit Explores Life in Orbit

The Museum of Flight’s New Exhibit Highlights the Wonder of Living in Space

By The Museum of Flight May 24, 2024

People are observing various displays and exhibits in a modern technology museum, including a central glass case with a model and an interactive touchscreen labeled "WAYPOINT," reminiscent of those found at the renowned Museum of Flight, that explores life in orbit.

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Seattle magazine.

The Museum of Flight’s immersive new exhibition, Home Beyond Earth, goes to the heart of living in a place somewhere between Earth and Moon. With a focus on space stations past, present and future, Home Beyond Earth visualizes our orbital dreams and accomplishments with large digital projections and more than 50 artifacts, models, space-flown objects and uniforms. To maximize the experience, the exhibit offers digital passports so visitors can personalize their journey, and build an imagined life in a space station of their choice.

For some visitors from the Seattle-area, planning a future in space is more than just hypothetical. In 2023, Washington’s space industry boasted an economic impact of $4.6 billion annually while supporting more than 13,000 jobs. In the Puget Sound region, SpaceX builds more than 30 Starlink satellites per week. Based out of Redmond, Project Kuiper is gearing up to make four satellites per day in its Kirkland facility. Kent’s space giant, Blue Origin, is a prime contractor for NASA’s Artemis Moon missions and is also developing a space station called Orbital Reef — a subject featured in Home Beyond Earth.

A group of people sits and kneels in a room with a large window showing a view of Earth from space. The interior, part of the Museum of Flight's new exhibit on Life in Orbit, is unfinished with exposed insulation and beams.

 

Sooner or later, humanity’s dream of living in space will come true. Tourists will stay in cozy space hotels as commercial spaceflight takes off and space becomes the newest vacation destination. Orbital suburbs will redefine the family work/life balance. The performing and visual arts will comfort and challenge us in entirely new ways. In the meantime, Home Beyond Earth shows how far we have come to realize this vision and helps us ponder a future that may or may not be for you.

The Museum is also offering spaceflight-related programs and family activities nearly every week this year. Astronauts, space industry leaders, authors, and futurists will cover topics ranging from sci-fi and living in space with disabilities, to space archeology and space law. Experience Home Beyond Earth before the exhibit closes Jan. 20, 2025.

Follow Us

From the Archives: Talk it Out

From the Archives: Talk it Out

In 1967, Pacific Northwest Bell ran full-page ads in the back of Seattle magazine announcing a marvel of modern living: the “Trimline Wall Model” telephone. Some of the copy was breathless—“A phone so compact it fits your life!”—and the photography was a dream in avocado green and sun-washed gold. Part of the Trimline’s magic is…

A Shot in the Arm for Data Delivery

A Shot in the Arm for Data Delivery

Bellevue-based Edifecs streamlines healthcare information sharing, protecting patients and promoting a holistic approach to wellness.

Your healthcare data is about personal as it gets,  and Edifecs wants to offer you peace of mind while it’s in motion. With legal mandates such as HIPAA governing the handling of healthcare information, exchanging this data can be a complex process. Bellevue-based Edifecs focuses on healthcare data interoperability—the ability for multiple systems to share…

Hiding in the Shadows

Hiding in the Shadows

A tech veteran’s guide to protecting your company from network attacks.

What is Shadow IT? When you first hear the term Shadow IT, it might sound vaguely ominous or even downright dangerous. And it can be. In simple terms, Shadow IT describes when an employee—or even an entire department within an organization—circumvents the IT team’s best practices and safety protocols to implement a change such as…

Seattle Podcast: Laura Hoffman: Microsoft AI for Good

Seattle Podcast: Laura Hoffman: Microsoft AI for Good

The Seattle Podcast talks to Laura Hoffman about Microsoft's AI innovations and how human-centered tech can create positive global impact.

The Seattle Podcast talks to Laura Hoffman about Microsoft's AI innovations and how human-centered tech can create positive global impact.