Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination is a traveling exhibit created by the Museum of Science, Boston, featuring props and costumes used in the Star Wars films, but focusing primarily on the science behind George Lucas' fantasy worlds.

Props and Costumes
The Museum of Science, Boston owns a model Naboo N-1 Starfighter, and an R2-D2 suit used in the creation of the films; these will remain on display in the museum, possibly being moved into the Star Wars Exhibition space. Many other costumes and props will accompany the exhibition.

Features
Much of the exhibit's elements are still in the final prototyping stages, so the final content and layout of the exhibition is unknown.

The exhibit will feature a reproduction of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit, placed within a miniature planetarium, and possibly programmed to simulate the appearance, if not the feel, of jumping to light speed. The exhibit may explain the basics of the argument, according to Einstein's theories, that faster-than-light travel is impossible.

Another Star Wars element the exhibit will discuss is the landspeeder, and various forms of real hovercraft technology. Maglev trains, air-cushion hovercrafts, and the unusual magnetic properties of super-cooled yttrium are all likely to be discussed.

The difficulties of creating functional humanoid robots will also be tackled, through a number of hands-on-activities. Quite possibly, this could go along with a discussion of real, present-day robots, and why, more often than not, they are not built to be humanoid.

Tour Schedule

 * Museum of Science, Boston, Massachusetts - scheduled to open October 27, 2005.
 * COSI, Columbus, Ohio
 * Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon
 * California Science Center, Los Angeles, California
 * Science Museum of Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota
 * Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * Fort Worth Museum of Science History, Fort Worth, Texas