New 'Wondrous Space' exhibit opens at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- If you are looking for some family-friendly fun this weekend, you might want to head to The Franklin Institute. A new cosmic exhibit, called "Wondrous Space," opens Saturday.

If you thought space was empty, well think again. A major goal of The Franklin Institute's newsiest exhibit is to teach you about everything that's beyond the horizon.

A massive Mars globe is the centerpiece of the exhibit, immediately igniting curiosity about space and beyond.

This is the first of six permanent exhibits to open over the next few years and is twice as large as others in the past.

"It's individually interactive. We have multi-family experiences where a number of people can do something at once," said Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at The Franklin Institute.

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Pitts has been with the institute for 45 years. He said the first floor is dark and ominous, like space. It focuses on teaching visitors of all ages about the elements of space, beyond just black holes and galaxies.

"After they leave this exhibit, we want them to look at the night sky in a different way, with more understanding and feel more of a connection to the universe," Pitts said.

The second floor is all about the inspiration of what it'll take to bring humans back to the moon, and eventually to Mars.

There are rockets, rovers, displays of space suits, as well as stations to learn about professionals in the industry.

"We want kids coming through the exhibit to see someone that looks like them doing this really great and fun work, and image themselves doing that in some of the careers they see in part of the exhibit," Pitts said.

Wondrous Space is a permanent exhibit and will open Saturday at 9:30 a.m. They will be giving away free space shuttles to the first 250 guests who arrive on Saturday and Sunday.