Pa.'s 1st space museum to open on Pittsburgh's North Side

A little over a year after its creators announced plans to open “Pennsylvania’s first space museum,” the Moonshot Museum is scheduled to open its doors to the public on Oct. 15.

Pittsburgh-based space robotics company Astrobotic is behind the museum, which it is calling “the first in the world to focus on career readiness for the contemporary space industry.”

The Moonshot Museum will place a heavy emphasis on interactive experiences, including sending visitors on simulated lunar missions. A glass wall will allow visitors to see actual lunar landers being built and readied to fly to the moon.

The goal is to inspire young people to become interested in space careers as part of their science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM) studies, including space careers in medicine, business, law and the humanities.

The museum is a nonprofit organization located inside Astrobotic’s North Side headquarters at 1016 N. Lincoln Ave. It’s a few blocks north of Acrisure Stadium.

“This museum is going to be the first of its kind,” said Sam Moore, Moonshot Museum executive director. “What I think it does is offer students an opportunity to get closer than they can get anywhere in the entire world, as far as we know, to the work of contemporary space.

“Pittsburgh does hard things. Pittsburgh builds hard things. We build spaceships here, we build buildings here, we build bridges here and now we’re building a whole new model for workforce development and career readiness for the space industry in Pittsburgh.

“It’s going to mean big things for students here and the region as well.”

Moonshot Museum officials say they have raised more than $2.5 million to support its construction and operations, including a recent $300,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation following its initial $500,000 grant to seed startup operations for the museum in 2020.

The Moonshot Museum will be open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays beginning Saturday, Oct. 15. Admission will be $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 3-17.

Ahead of opening day, the museum will host a Northside Neighbors preview day for North Side residents on Thursday, Oct. 13. More information is available at www.moonshotmuseum.org/events.