posted 11-17-2021 01:00 AM               

Smithsonian FUTURES exhibit examines space artifacts of the future

A solar sail that tacked into the light, a keyboard used to navigate to the moon and a spacesuit-clad android are among the "artifacts of the future" in the new forward-looking display at America's first national museum.

"FUTURES, the Smithsonian's first major building-wide exploration of what is still to come, invites the public to imagine "the many possible futures on the horizon" — including what was once thought and what is now considered to be the future of space exploration. Opening on Saturday (Nov. 20) and running through next July, the exhibition and festival mark the temporary reopening of the Smithsonian's oldest museum, the historic Arts and Industries Building (AIB) on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., for the first time in nearly two decades.