The Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center has been awarded the Mountain Plains Museum Association’s (MPMA) 2011 Leadership and Innovation Award for its exhibit, “Investigate Space: Our Universe.” MPMA is a regional association of museum professionals in 10 Midwestern states and works in conjunction with the American Association of Museums.

“We are thrilled to have this exhibit honored for its cutting-edge technology and amazing interactive components,” said Chris Orwoll, President and CEO of the Cosmosphere. “Through this exhibit, visitors can find themselves navigating a 3D Solar System, operating an interactive telescope, and steering the movements of a Mars rover replica. These are all hands-on activities that make the space travel experience personal. This exhibit combines sophisticated technology and interactivity in an experience you’ll find nowhere else outside NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles.”

The Cosmosphere staff and its subsidiary, SpaceWorks, designed and built the exhibit, which opened in April 2011. It is outfitted with a Mars Exploration Rover model built by Masterpiece Models of Vancouver, Wash. The interactive Mars Science Laboratory rover and telescope exhibits were created by IMG of Wichita.

According to a statement by the MPMA awards committee, “the project demonstrated both leadership and innovation in the planning, development, and production of a high-quality interactive exhibit that engages the audience. The project can serve as a model to other organizations on how to rethink their interpretation to engage new audiences and build on-going support to sustain the mission.”

“We want our visitors to be able to do more than look at exhibits behind glass or read about other people’s adventures,” Orwoll said. “We want visitors to immerse themselves in the experience and spark their interest in the future of space travel. We want visitors to witness the possibilities of space through exhibits they can touch and activities they can do.”

Based on the success of Investigate Space: Our Universe, a second interactive exhibit, Investigate Space: The Astronaut Experience Gallery, was opened in September 2011.

The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center is home to the largest collection of U.S. and Soviet space artifacts found anywhere outside the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. The Cosmosphere is located at 1100 N. Plum in Hutchinson, KS. www.cosmo.org.