The California Science Center will host a media preview Tuesday of new aviation exhibits being installed as part of its future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Exposition Park.
The preview will offer an early look at the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, a new exhibit space focused on the science of flight and the evolution of aviation technology.
“The Korean Air Aviation Gallery explores how the pursuit to master the sky involves tradeoffs among four forces of flight — lift, thrust, drag, and weight — that affect every aircraft ever flown, whether it flies high, low, fast, or slow,” according to an earlier statement. “The gallery will have three primary thematic areas: Learning to Fly, Everyday Flight, and Advanced Aviation.”
The space is expected to eventually feature about 20 aircraft as part of the larger air and space center.
Among the highlights of the preview is a 70-foot forward section of a Korean Air Boeing 747-400, which will serve as a central feature of the exhibit.
Guests “will experiment in a wind tunnel lab to understand the forces that make planes fly; and the Design a Plane Exhibit, where guests will experiment with aircraft design and learn how planes can be engineered to meet the requirements of different flight missions,” the statement read.
Several additional aircraft will also be on display, suspended within the gallery as part of the initial installation phase.
The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center will ultimately span about 100,000 square feet across four floors and include three primary exhibit galleries, integrating aircraft and spacecraft with interactive educational displays, officials said.
In addition to the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, the center will feature the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, which will showcase the space shuttle Endeavour in a vertical, “ready for launch” configuration.
The display will include the orbiter mounted with solid rocket boosters and an external tank, offering visitors a rare, full-scale view of the shuttle system.
Officials said the shuttle exhibit will be the only one of its kind in the world, allowing guests to view the spacecraft from multiple levels while learning about its role in advancing human spaceflight and research in low Earth orbit.
The center will also include the Kent Kresa Space Gallery, focused on robotic and human space exploration. The gallery will highlight spacecraft, satellites and telescopes, along with artifacts from major U.S. space programs, including flown capsules from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.
The space gallery will be organized into sections examining rocket technology, robotic exploration and human spaceflight, offering visitors a broader look at how technology has expanded scientific understanding of the universe, according to officials.