Thread by @KatrinaTernus

Y'all. Y'ALL. Did you all know about the Cosmosphere in little Hutchinson, Kansas? Because if you didn't, strap in I'm about to BLOW YOUR MIND.

That photo up there is just the lobby. That's the underbelly of a legit SR-71 that they had to BUILD THE LOBBY around. Oh and the actual recovered and restored Mercury Liberty Bell capsule from Grissom's flight. Did you notice the T-38 in the background? JUST THE LOBBY.

Their Hall of Space starts with a side-by-side exhibit of US and Soviet space artifacts in a beautiful, informative chronological setup. Like this RD107. This is the largest collection of Soviet pieces outside of Moscow and the largest combined collection IN THE WORLD.

Oh and if THAT doesn't do it for you, ever wonder where the Apollo 13 capsule #Odyessy ended up? HERE. Restored by their SpaceWorks team after sitting gutted in Paris for 15 years. I may have cried.

Yes I've been here for two days, but guess what I didn't see yesterday? They restored and are displaying pieces of the F1 engine from Apollo 11 that Bezos Expeditions pulled out of the Atlantic. I am relieved there were no children present when I exclaimed about this one.

They also have actual pieces of the Berlin Wall and REAL V1 and V2 missiles on display. One of the only places in the world that has them.

This museum is in Central Kansas and has one of the most extensive and informative collections on display I've ever seen, and I've been around the museum block a time or two. I didn't even talk about some of the things I've seen and apparently only 10% is even ON display.

This was started in 1962 by a woman named Patty Carey who was determined to educate the public. She opened a small local planetarium in the back of a chicken coop with a second hand projector. Look what it is now. What could inspire you more?

Come visit! Peace out space nerds 🖖

So I'm terrible at Twitter but here's the hashtags and all that: @the_cosmosphere #apollo13 #isawodyssey #libertybell #sr71