Museum of the Future

Opened in 2022

The Moonshot Museum is part of the Astrobotic Technology company

“FIND YOUR PLACE IN SPACE”: goal of the museum is to show ALL the skills needed for space exploration - not just engineers and astronauts - and to show the future of space exploration

https://moonshotmuseum.org/

PEREGRINE LUNAR LANDER

History in the Making: Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander was the first private commercial spacecraft to attempt to land on the lunar surface and the first American spacecraft to attempt to land on the Moon since the Apollo era.

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Commercial Space Industry: Peregrine carried payloads from companies and countries around the world and the goal was to deploy a small rover to search for underground tunnels or “lava tubes,” potential sites for future lunar settlers.

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Flight of the Falcon: The lunar lander is named for the peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on Earth.

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Powered by Pennsylvania: Peregrine was constructed at Astrobotic Headquarters on Pittsburgh’s Northside, with metals and electronics built by Pennsylvanians. The spacecraft launched aboard a rocket from Florida, but once it left Earth’s atmosphere, Astrobotic Mission Control coordinated the lander’s journey to the Moon.

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First Model of the

Peregrine Lunar Lander

GRIFFIN LUNAR LANDER

• Will carry the NASA payload VIPER Rover (weighing 1000 lbs) with the goal of drilling for ice at the South Pole of the moon
• Will be launched by November 2024!
• Astrobots doing work on the Griffin right in front of you in the clean room

NASA is looking for water on the moon to facilitate humans spending extended time there AND as a means of obtaining hydrogen to power travel to MARS!

Field Trip Information

• Museum works to tailor the visit and presentation to all age levels PreK-High School
• PreK Kids have a story time with planet stuffies
• Middle School Kids can have a challenge where they work in teams to complete challenges
• Potential worksheet to guide students through interactive portion
• Groups of 20-25 are ideal
• Say they can manage up to 60 students by breaking into 2 groups
• Suggest a two part field trip for larger groups - Science Center and Moonshot Museum
• Elementary programs are about an hour long and Older Student programs are around 1 ½ hours
• Tuesdays and Wednesdays are blocked off for field trips
• Often have funds available to help Title I schools send students to the museum
• Work with Tickets for Kids (15 ticket max per request)

Visits to Schools

• Have programs that go out to schools
• Example: shoot off a Coke rocket and discuss the science behind the process
• Received $799,000 from NASA to expand their educational opportunities and outreach
• Creating an immersive experience in the next few years
• Working on a traveling planetarium
• Creating a Plan, Build, Fly with a Weather Balloon: kits will be sent to classrooms grade 5-8 for a project done over time, balloons will be launched, there will be debriefing with professionals, CMU is involved with this project

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• Have a Teen Volunteer Program for students 16 and older
• Help in the museum
• Get to meet and form relationships with the Astrobots

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Social Sciences

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For artists and designers, too!

Pittsburgh Connections