Astrobotic Technology's Moonshot Museum has gotten one step closer to liftoff following the release of final exhibit design renderings which mark the completion of the concept phase for the future facility. Set to open by the end of summer 2022, the space museum is expected to cost $2.4 million and will be housed inside Astrobotic's North Side headquarters.
For Sam Moore, the museum’s executive director, the concept completion is just one small step of what is ultimately going to be a giant leap for the region's students and other future benefactors of the museum's presence.
"We're going to be the first museum in the United States to be really at our core focus on career readiness for the 21st-century space industry," Moore said. "And not just rocket science and mechanical engineering, which are really critically important, of course, and we're going to be making really tangible, excellent connections for students when they join us at Moonshot Museum. But we're going to activate the full science, technology, engineering, arts and math, that full STEAM spectrum and really pull back the curtain on the vast array of opportunity that exists in the space industry."
According to Moore, that includes looking at everything from the technicians who build spacecraft, a skill that doesn't necessarily require a four-year degree to do, to finding ways to incorporate the role that arts and humanities play in the space industry, from design to writing to marketing to policy-making. Engineers — especially electrical, software and mechanical engineers — will also be crucial, Moore said.
"Our goal is for kids, particularly kids in middle and high school, to leave us knowing how their interests align with the space industry and knowing how they can play a role, even if they don't necessarily fit into the box of a future mechanical engineer or a future propulsion engineer," Moore said. "Moonshot is going to be the only museum in the country in which you can come in all the time and see spacecraft under construction in real-time and know that every time you're in, you're going to see something that's going to end up on the surface of the moon in the days or months that follow your visit."
When it opens, the Moonshot Museum will be the only museum in Pennsylvania that has an exclusive focus on space exploration. Its operations will be maintained by the nonprofit Astrobotic Foundation.
