The Cosmosphere: Part 1

Back in April, my friend Joseph came from California with his two sons for a visit.  On April 15, we went to the Cosmosphere, a Space Museum in a town about an hour and a half from Wichita.  I was so busy making art during that time, I didn't have time to do anything except get the over 1300 photos I took that day off my camera and onto my computer.  Today I will begin to share the first of these photos with you.

Remember this was April, and the fields were just beginning to  turn green from the winter wheat that had been planted.

Although I'm never bored with Joseph and Scott (my computer guru friend), I always have my camera at the ready.

This place holds special memories for me.  It's where I bought my first and ONLY cooking stove I have ever owned.  Yes, I've had it since I was 19 and it's starting to show its age.  

That's not true.  It showed its age quite a few years ago!!  Crupper's Corner is showing its age, too.

We're starting to come into town

past some rusty box cars

with the famous mile long elevator in sight.

Definitely not a good shot.

An even worse shot.

The best shot I got.

Last shot, and it was sad, too.

We finally made it to the Cosmosphere.

I got a little carried away and panned the entire complex.

This is probably not part of the Cosmosphere's area.

This is the front of the building. 

By this time, everyone was tired of waiting for me, so we took off for the main building.

Once inside, we were greeted by these majestic planes,

including a full-scale replica of the space shuttle Endeavour.

While Joseph and Scott checked out the nose of the Lockheed Blackbird reconnaissance plane, I was busy taking photos. 

I cropped this photo I took of Scott, because there were so many other people who had just entered the building.

There were lots of things, including games and photo ops for children and adults alike in this area.

Both of Joseph's sons were having a ball and we hadn't even paid yet.

This is a photo of the flight simulator we would go on.   You had to be a certain height to ride in the capsule, and one of Joseph's sons was too small.  Scott and Joseph teased me to see if I was tall enough, too.

Not sure what Scott was taking a photo of, but it had really started to get crowded in the lobby.

The people may have been looking at this photo of the Blackbird as it arrived to take its place in the building's lobby.

Yes, we have a lot to see, and the crowds are starting to arrive. 

A few things you should know:

The museum houses over 13,000 spaceflight artifacts which is the largest combined collection of US and Russian spaceflight artifacts in the world.

Every artifact on display at the Cosmosphere is either an actual flown artifact, a "flight-ready backup" (identical to the item actually flown), an engineering model, or a historically accurate replica.

The museum begins with the earliest experiments in rocketry during the World War II era, continues through the Space Race and Cold War, and finally explores the modern Space Shuttle and International Space Station.

Thanks for joining me today as we make the drive to the Cosmosphere and explore the lobby.  More soon.