The Cosmosphere grew from a planettarium established on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in 1962. The 105,000-square-foot facility houses the largest collection of Russian space artifacts outside of Moscow, and a collection of US space artifacts second only to the National Air and Space Museum, located in Washington D.C.
The Cosmosphere, the only Smithsonian affiliate museum in Kansas, has four venues: The Hall of Space Museum, The Justice Planetarium, The Carey Digital Dome Theater, and Dr. Goddard's Lab (an explosive live science presentation on the history of rocketry). The Cosmosphere also hosts summer camps for all ages, and co-curricular applied STEM education programs for field trips, groups, and scouts that meet Next Generation Science Standards and common core, focused on college and career readiness.
Beginning with the earliest experiments in rocketry during the World War II era, the Cosmosphere museum explores through the space race and Cold War, continuing through modern times with the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and commercial flight.
