Riverside, CA, March Field Air Museum will be hosting a special engagement of “We Choose Space” in an inflatable planetarium to celebrate the opening of its new Space Exhibit in March.

On loan from NASA, the dome will be displayed in the museum’s main hangar from March 2 until March 31st, with hourly shows. The planetarium program was developed by the Houston Museum of Science. Planetarium shows will be $3 per person in addition to regular museum admission fees. Museum members are admitted free.

For the past several years the March Field Air Museum has acquired over $32 million dollars of shuttle related artifacts in a competitive process with the General Services Administration (GSA). These artifacts are being exhibited in a newly designed area of the museum “Mission Control” which also opens on March 2. This exhibit contains actual consoles from the Kennedy Space Center that were used through the final shuttle launch as well as samples of shuttle tiles, space gloves and other mission memorabilia.

Mr. Jeff Houlihan, the museum curator says that “in our continuing effort to provide an educational experience for all ages we are pushing the boundaries of aviation in reaching for space.” The new permanent exhibit hall “feature artifacts from over 50 years of space exploration and significant new additions to March Field Air Museum’s aviation collection. On display are over 70 artifacts from NASA and selections from the Glick Soviet Space collection, artifacts from the Apollo Moon flights donated by the family of the late Congressman Jerry L. Pettis and a High Altitude Flight Suit donated by the family of aviation pioneer and legendary CIA U-2 pilot Al Rand.

According to Museum Director Patricia Korzec  “this is the most significant new exhibit the museum has designed since becoming accredited and is a preview of many new ones to come.” The exhibit also includes three flight simulators and 10 video screens telling the story of space exploration from the early years of rocketry through the race to the Moon, the International Space Station and NASA’s Space Shuttle program.

Regular museum admission is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 5 to 12. March Field Air Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday.
22550 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside CA 92518.
For more information about March Field Air Museum please contact Annie Lunetta at 951/902-5949, annie @marchfield.org or visit the website at www.marchfield.org.