Why is the Cosmosphere in Kansas?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions at the Cosmosphere. The Cosmosphere began in 1962 as nothing more than a tiny planetarium on the Kansas State Fairgrounds. When the planetarium outgrew its original facility and moved to its current location, the planetarium’s leaders sought business advice from Max Ary, then director of Ft.Worth’s Noble Planetarium. Interestingly, Ary was also part of a Smithsonian Institution committee in charge of relocating thousands of space hardware to museums throughout the U.S. The Cosmosphere was granted many of the artifacts. The rest is History.

In the museum, what is real, and what is a replica?

This can be a complicated question. Most everything you see in the museum was either flown in space, built as a back up for what was flown in space, built as a testing unit for what was flown in space, or was the real deal, but was never meant for space. Only a few artifacts are replicas, and those that are replicas, are for good reason. For example, the lunar module and lunar rover in the Apollo Gallery are replicas (though built by the same company that produced the flown modules), because those that went in space, stayed in space. No museum in the world carries a flown lunar module or rover. In fact, they’re all still on the Moon.

You can view some of our artifacts in the Artifacts Section.

If you’re ever in doubt, ask us and we’ll be happy to tell you.

What are your business hours? When are particular shows playing?

The answers to these questions vary, depending on the time of year. If you can’t find the answer to your question on our Hours and Ticketing or IMAX® pages, please call the Cosmosphere at 800-397-0330. We’ll be happy to help you.

In your ticket system, what is meant by single venue?

The Cosmosphere offers two ticket options: the All-Day Mission Pass and the Single Venue Ticket. With the single venue ticket, you receive admittance into just one Cosmosphere venue of your choice (Hall of Space Museum, Carey IMAX Dome Theater, Justice Planetarium or Dr. Goddard’s Lab). With the All-Day Mission Pass, you receive admittance into everything. We offer Group Rates and Special Offers.