On Labor Day Ryan and I took a day trip to the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. I hadn’t been there since 6th grade and it had been even longer for Ryan. The museum tells the story of the Space Race, starting with the German V-1 rocket from WWII. There are four galleries that take you from that V-1 through the Cold War, early space flight, and the Apollo missions. Their collection of artifacts is amazing – they’ve got the actual Apollo 13 capsule, the actual Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule (they partnered with the Discovery Channel to retrieve it from the floor of the Atlantic in 1999), as well as artifacts from Russia and Germany. 
There were several hands-on exhibits: sitting in an ejection seat, standing at the base of the space shuttle before lift-off, and Ryan’s favorite – Mission Control.
They also have an IMAX Dome Theater. I’ve been to an IMAX theater before, but that was nothing compared to the dome! The picture was almost all around and above us and with such fantastic quality that it really felt like we were in the scene and could touch it! We watched The Alps and it felt like we were on the mountain right next to the climbers (and it sure was a long way down!).
We had such a fun (and educational) time together! And the day was made complete with chocolate astronaut ice cream.
