Henry Crown Space Center opened in 1986. The space center includes artifacts and interactive exhibits about space travel. Located in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry the Henry Crown Space Center includes the

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...

spacecraft and Aurora 7 capsule.

Exhibits

*Interactive docking simulation with a replica of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. *Remote control

Mars Rover A Mars rover is a motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny pos ...

spacecraft *

Aurora 7 Mercury-Atlas 7, launched May 24, 1962, was the fourth crewed flight of Project Mercury. The spacecraft, named ''Aurora 7'', was piloted by astronaut Scott Carpenter. He was the sixth human to fly in space. The mission used Mercury spacecraft No ...

capsule * Jet-packs that astronauts wear *

Lunar module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

used for

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

training

History

The museum was established with a donation from philanthropist

Henry Crown Henry Crown (; June 13, 1896 – August 14, 1990) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. Among other things, he founded the Material Service Corporation, which merged with General Dynamics in 1959. At the time of his death, he was a ...

. Crown was a billionaire who built

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

. General Dynamics also played a role in

Aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

. The space center opened with a visit from

James Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of the f ...

in 1986. The cost of the Space center was 12 million dollars. The museum of Science and Industry in Chicago also opened an

OmniMax IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

theater in 1986: it was built inside the space center.

References

External links

Henry Crown Space Center

"Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms", a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' travel itinerary

* Documentary of th
U.S. Space Program
in Florida {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry Crown Space Center Museums in Chicago Landmarks in Chicago Hyde Park, Chicago Science museums in Illinois Industry museums in Illinois Technology museums in Illinois World's Columbian Exposition World's fair architecture in Chicago Museums established in 1986 Association of Science-Technology Centers member institutions NASA groups, organizations, and centers Aerospace museums in Illinois IMAX venues