HUTCHINSON, Kan. — SpaceWorks, a division of the Smithsonian affiliated Cosmosphere museum in Kansas, is unveiling a new line of traveling exhibits, space artifact rentals and display fabrication services. Called SpaceWorks Exhibit and Artifact Rental Program, the first traveling exhibit becomes available just in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission this spring.
As the home to the authentic command module, Odyssey, the Cosmosphere is positioned to tell the story of this harrowing mission unlike any other museum. Titled: “Apollo 13: A Mission of Survival”, the exhibit recounts details from “NASA’s Most Successful Failure” and features genuine Apollo-era space artifacts from the Cosmosphere collection.
“Over the years, the Cosmosphere has leased artifacts to museums and exhibits across the globe, but never developed a formal business plan around the program,” said Jim Remar, Cosmosphere President & CEO. “As we look to diversify and expand the operation beyond our museum walls, we formally developed and launched this program, and it’s my belief that the SpaceWorks Exhibit and Artifact Rental Program can realize tremendous growth in the years to come.”
Other services available as part of the new SpaceWorks program include space artifact replication, exhibit design and installation services and space artifact restoration. SpaceWorks has been responsible for producing artifact replications for films and television, like props made for the 2018 film “First Man” and Apple TV+’s current show, “For All Mankind”. The group has designed, fabricated and installed exhibits at museums like the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and Glavkosmos in Moscow, Russia. Additionally, the group has been responsible for major restoration projects, like the notable 2019 restoration of the authentic historic mission control consoles from the Mission Operations Control Room at Johnson Space Center — which was named an official project of Save America’s Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the White House.
For more information on the SpaceWorks Exhibits and Artifact Rental Program, visit: spaceworkscosmo.org. For questions, please contact Jim Remar by emailing: spaceworks@cosmo.org or jimr@cosmo.org.
About the Cosmosphere: The Cosmosphere International Science Education Center & Space Museum is a Smithsonian-affiliate in Hutchinson, KS. It is home to the largest combined collection of U.S. and Russian space artifacts. This unique collection allows the Cosmosphere to tell the story of the Space Race unlike any museum in the world! Against the backdrop of the collection, the Cosmosphere conducts industry-leading applied education programming.
The Cosmosphere also features the Carey Digital Dome Theater offering documentary showings daily and recently-released feature films on weekends; plus the Justice Planetarium and Dr. Goddard’s Lab, where visitors experience live science demonstrations daily.
The Cosmosphere’s SpaceWorks division specializes in restoration, conservation, replication and fabrication. The SpaceWorks team is known worldwide for its work on notable projects like the restoration of the Mercury capsule Liberty Bell 7, the Apollo 13 Command Module Odyssey and the conservation of the Saturn V F-1 engines recovered by Bezos Expeditions. The team’s work can be seen across the globe in museums like Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, overseas in traveling exhibits like JVS’ “Cosmos Discovery”, and on the big screen in films like “Apollo 13” and “First Man”.