It is a scorched and battered white cone that has been to space and back twice, but a SpaceX Dragon capsule will now call Chicago is permanent home.
The Dragon was welcomed with fanfare and cheering school children when arrived Thursday on the North Lawn of the Museum of Science and Industry where it will become the centerpiece of a new Henry Crown Space Center set to open in the Spring of 2023.
MSI President and CEO Chevy Humphrey called the Dragon acquisition historic for the community which will also be home to the Obama Presidential Library.
"We are bringing it back here because every community needs to learn about the future of space and opportunities to travel to the moon and to Mars," Humphrey said.
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The Dragon was wheeled to the museum on a flatbed truck accompanied by two double-decker busloads of schoolchildren. When they grow up, space travel may become more commonplace.
"I would go to space because it’s very cool,” said student Michael Buchanan. "I could also learn about new things."
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Michael Adjei said he would like to meet Elon Musk, the man behind the capsule’s builder SpaceX. "I would say your spaceship is cool," he said.
This particular Dragon capsule has flown in space twice. It arrived on the museum’s lakefront campus bearing the scarred exterior one would expect from a vehicle that has endured a fiery re-entry through earth’s atmosphere.
Humphrey said people ask her if the museum plans to clean it before putting it on display.
No, it’s traveled twice to space," she said. "We want to show what it’s like to go through that."
Humphrey said artifacts like the Dragon are intended to inspire museum visitors, especially children. The capsule will go into storage until its new exhibit home is ready next year.
