Moonshot Museum has begun to assemble a “living lab” built to inspire young people to find their place in the future of space exploration.
June 16, 2022
Pittsburgh, PA – Moonshot Museum has officially begun construction on its 3,000 square foot exhibition and programming space, targeting October 2022 for its unveiling to the public. Opening inside the Northside headquarters of commercial space company Astrobotic, Moonshot Museum will be the first space museum in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the first museum on the planet to have a core focus on career readiness for the 21st century space industry.
“As Astrobotic works to build spacecraft in its Clean Room, we’re hard at work building a museum unlike any other that will provide a window into their work and the wider work of the space industry,” said Sam Moore, the Museum’s executive director. “Our mission is to inspire and bring people closer to space than they’ve ever been. With construction officially underway, our final countdown to launching a museum built in close collaboration with our community has begun.”
In June, demolition and drywall work began, followed by a fresh coat of black paint across the interior of the gallery, creating an exciting contrast between the bright white lights of the Astrobotic Clean Room on the other side of the Moonshot Museum windows and the darkness of what will transform into a Moon-themed Museum space in the coming months.
Moonshot Museum is partnered with Pittsburgh-based PJ Dick as its general contractor and has engaged Chicago-based Luci Creative and Ravenswood Studios for the fabrication of its exhibitions. The Museum is in the final stage of its $2.7 million campaign to support its operations, having raised more than $2 million to date. Operated by the nonprofit 501(c)(3) Astrobotic Foundation, Moonshot Museum will take its visitors on simulated lunar missions in a highly interactive museum environment, all against the backdrop of a wall of windows looking into Astrobotic’s Clean Room spacecraft assembly area.
Click to view more construction images and a walk-through video tour of the future Moonshot Museum.
Contact:
Sam Moore, Executive Director
sam@moonshotmuseum.org
(412) 314-4111
About Moonshot Museum
Moonshot Museum will open as Pennsylvania’s first-ever space museum and the first museum in the world to focus on career and community readiness for the 21st century space industry. Via a unique partnership with Pittsburgh space robotics company Astrobotic, Moonshot Museum will pull back the curtain on the contemporary space industry, offering the unparalleled opportunity to see real spacecraft be built and access space industry professionals – a first for both the museum and aerospace technology sectors. With a mission to inspire a diverse community to find their place in the future of space exploration, Moonshot Museum will combine immersive exhibitions with innovative Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) programming to create a unique and engaging museum experience that inspires and equips young people with the tools they need to pursue careers in the space industry. Moonshot Museum is in the midst of a $2.7 million capital campaign to fund development and fabrication of its exhibitions and is scheduled to open in Fall 2022.