New space museum opens in New York

February 20, 2000
Web posted at: 1:53 a.m. EST (0653 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A $210 million space museum opened its doors Saturday in New York to thousands of people wanting to see and experience the wonders of space.

The Rose Center for Earth and Space -- a 333,500-square-foot center that is part of the American Museum of Natural History -- features an array of high-tech exhibits, detailing galactic evolution and cosmic history as well as the Earth's place in it.

The facility's centerpiece is the new Hayden Planetarium, which showcases an 87-foot sphere enclosed in a cube of glass. It is the largest and most powerful virtual reality simulator in the world.

"I like how it gave perspective to our position in the observational universe," said one spectator, who just finished viewing the planetarium's space show.

The inaugural space show, "Passport to the Universe," narrated by Tom Hanks, offered viewers a 3-D tour of the universe, taking them on a virtual recreation of our galaxy and beyond.

The bottom half of the Hayden Sphere houses the Big Bang exhibit, where visitors are transported to the beginning of time and space -- a 13-billion year timeline of the universe.

"Whole idea of seeing what it's like going out from the planet Earth throughout the solar system and being able to visualize that and see clearly is great," said another visitor.

Center officials estimate that up to 20,000 people will visit during its grand opening Saturday.

The center increases the total square footage of the American Museum of Natural History, one of New York's most famous museums, by about 25 percent.