Magnificent displays and story boards regarding U.S. and USSR space exploration.

I learned about the Cosmosphere a few months ago when I was looking for Apollo space capsule locations. Really, in the middle of nowhere, there is the Apollo 13 Odyssey, Gemini 10, and Mercury 4 Liberty Bell 7 space capsules. There is so much here, I spent 3 1/2 hours wondering throughout the museum.There are German V-1 and V-2 rockets along with Soviet space capsules.Truly a gem hidden away on a trail less taken.

This is my first time at the Cosmosphere in over 20 years. Its a great place to learn about the space programs of mostly Russia and the USA. Its very detailed, this museum covers everything from the first rockets made during WW2 to the Space Shuttle. Some very cool artifacts, some were actually flown in space, others were either replicas or they were the backups. And the Dome Theatre is another reason to go, really lets you feel the movie being presented.

My son (14) and daughter (12) had a great time going through the museum. It was a great age for my son to be able to see and relate the things hes learned in school from text books to actual events and people. My daughter (with autism) enjoyed the displays and the hands on exhibits. Over all we had a great time taking our time going through the exhibits.

This place is amazing. If you love space, this is a must for you. This place is home to the original Apollo 13 command module Odyssey as well as an actual moon rock. The digital dome and planetarium are also super cool to visit while you’re here.

The Cosmosphere is a great place for kids to learn and have fun at the same time. The kids enjoyed building a rocket and launching it. The simulator was an enjoyable and unique experience. The dome theater was nice and relaxing. At the planetarium we learned about the night sky. Dr. Goddards lab was a great experience and by far my favorite. The worst part of my experience was the parking. Overall, this is a blast for anyone.

The kids have always loved this place, even if we only visit the museum downstairs. Its great for kids of all ages, even those technically labeled adults.

So much fun for the family! Lots of things to do, and very educational. We will go again. Highly recommend!

Great place to learn of the history of rockets and space flight. On display were various spacecraft from the US and Russia. The place is not up to date however. Ended with the space shuttles. It is well worth visiting if you are in the area.

The Cosmosphere is amazing place to go if you are a space fanatic! Like I am! It had awesome displays and a great deal of information. Wonderful place to take kids. The planetarium was amazing! The movies were fantastic! I would highly recommend this to anyone who has a love for NASA in space. ❤️

Very good exhibits on the space programs. They have many items that have actually been in space making the museum all the more interesting. I would highly recommend it if you are interested in space or history.

If you’re in to outer space and spaceships then you’ll love this! I’m not a fan but still thought it was cool to see(especially since this is probably the closest I’ll get to NASA lol). There’s a kids center to do stuff and a lot of history and artifacts displayed from past Apollo voyages. The moon dust exhibit is under renovation currently but that probably would’ve been cool to see. I saw the Live Planetarium and the woman who ran the show was nice but the presentation was all over the place(there was no point of the presentation other than pointing out constellations and making jokes BUT it kept the kids entertained I guess). The Into the Wild documentary was cool but seems like it’s for kids. The staff was very nice and helpful and the place is clean.

I had a blast here, as I learned about our past and got informed on what we do today to keep earth safe. Its a family friendly environment, and such an amazing experience!

The cosmosphere was a really wonderful family event! We are homeschooling and used this as a field trip on a really cold day. It was an engaging learning experience for the kids. We bought the all inclusive passes and were able to ride the shuttle simulator, watch a documentary, visit the planetarium and see the lab demonstration, in addition to the museum. They had exhibits about everything! The history of space flight, the planets, the machinery, astronauts and their gear, so much information. There was a little area for the kids to play and explore the concepts they were learning. Great day trip for people of ages.

I was visiting from Tampa and this was the one attraction l almost skipped. I live 3 hrs from Kennedy Space Center so l wasnt expecting much. It was definitely worth the trip. The Dr Goddards Lab show was fascinating, the space museum had some impressive artifacts from the Apollo missions. I especially enjoyed the Chuck Yeager exhibit since he is a distant relative of mine. All this for a 1/3 of the price to Kennedy Space Center and without the crowds to deal with.

Great overview of the space race with actual artifacts from both the US and Russian side. Lots of reading though, so it can be tough to hold small kids interest.

I am 60 years old and have lived in and travelled to many many states.The Cosmosphere is among the leaders of the top museums in the country for Space Travel and the Space Race.Wanna see actual Russian Satellites ? This is the place.Great education facility for the old and the young.

Pretty interesting but most of the exhibits are shut down right now. Also the videos they show in their theater are pretty outdated and boring. My entire party feel asleep. Which was nice I guess.

This is a terrific hidden gem. If youre a fan of the Space Race, you need to visit. They even have the no kidding Apollo 13 Command Module.

It was pretty neat. Saw some great artifacts. I was a bit surprised how abrupt at 5 we were kicked out from the gift shop. But overall it was pleasant.

Amazing retrospective on the Space Race/Cold War. Incredible collection.

The Cosmosphere is a unique space museum. The displays are constantly changing, making for a continually educational experience that grows each visit.

We took two grandchildren and they loved it. The self involvement with some of the displays was great for them. I highly recommend it.

The best space museum Ive ever been to, and that includes the Kennedy Center or Air and Space Museum. This one isnt just American-centric, but also covers German and Soviet rocketry.

One of our favorite stops! So many space artifacts to inspire w a good Russian collection. The real Apollo 13 capsule is here, as well as the Libert Bell 7. Great place!

This is a truly amazing experience in the middle of nowhere. Very well done tribute to the space race and not something you would expect to find in a small town in Kansas.

Such a unique building in Kansas! This museum includes simulations, ACTUAL rockets, live shows and experiences and just so much more. If you’re in the area, you need to check this place out even if you’ve already have before!

We loved this place! Wonderful, informative displays! Very courteous and personable sraff. The national park movie was breathtaking! Just an overall fantastic way to spend our Saturday. Highly recommended!

Ive been to the Cosmosphere dozens of times and it never gets old! Walking in and the first thing you see is an SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest piloted jet aircraft in the world with a storied history. Once in the museum itself, youre greeted with the spectacular history of the space program, included the original Liberty Bell 7 capsule and the original Apollo 13 capsule. They have an excellent collection of American, Soviet and Russian artifacts that make the Cosmosphere rival the space artifacts that are in The Smithsonian.

Havent been there since I was an early Teen. Awesome place for any space enthusiast or the like. Great atmosphere with plenty to see.

This Smithsonian Affiliate is a pleasant surprise find! We have been to Kennedy Space Center, The Air and Space Museum and White Sands Astronaut Museum, but we still new things! I loved seeing the restored Liberty Bell capsule and the restored Odyssey capsule of Apollo 13 and being under a launch pad for a Gemini Titan rocket! My husband learned so much more about the Soviet space program. There is a lot packed into this museum so plan 1/2 to a full day depending on the attention span of your party.

Great place to visit when you are in the area. Comparable to Houston or Cape Canaveral.

Even under some construction, my family had fun for a whole day.The building was clean and fun. The staff wore masks which was appreciated.Overall it was as great a memory as when i was a kid.

One of the best museums I’ve ever experienced. I highly recommend taking a day trip here. So fascinating!

They were working on changing displays the last time I was there so there were some exhibits that were closed down for construction at the time, but they had the tickets already discounted for the inconvenience.I personally loved the tour because they have the Apollo 13 command module on loan from the Smithsonian right now so I got to geek out over that.Highly recommend going. Ive been a couple of times and already look forward to the next time I get to go.

Came here as I was travelling through Kansas, and I was blown away by how cool this museum was. They have the original Apollo 13 module here! There are a ton of exhibits and a lot of history, if ever youre in the area I would highly recommend visiting. Theres also a planetarium, if youd like to watch one of their shows!

One of the smaller, cool things in my hometown. Especially if you dig outer space and history.

Interesting place to go.

Just here on a visit, and this place is for the enthusiast on space as well as history, great place to explore and get a history lesson on space

My niece held her wedding here. It was so unique. Very interesting place to visit for the family.

We spent 5 hours with two teenage boys and were completely entertained the whole time. Some local libraries have family passes you can check out at no cost and that is what we did. A great educational day.

Wow! Who expected to find a space museum in the middle of Kansas. Highly recommend.

We really enjoyed our experiences here.

Amazing space museum! There is so much to see, well worth the stop.

My family had an awesome time here with friends.It is very expensive though for a family outing.Be sure to plan on staying all day to be able to see everything, but you still wont be able to read everything.So much information and displays!

My wife brought me to the Cosmosphere as a surprise. WOW, what an incredible experience! We were there about two hours and I could easily go back for a second tour at least that long.

Thank you for the experience! This is fun and educational plus the staff are awesome.

Great place to see.

Exceeded expectations! Fun and educational way to spend a day.

Always great time to go

This place is really fun. Even during covid, you can do nearly all activities. Such a great activity to do with kiddos! I went here as a little girl, so bringing my kids here was quite special!

If you are a space enthusiast this visit is a must see. You can really get up close and inspect some fantastic NASA Apollo and Gemini era capsules. The Russian stuff is amazing too. You can really get a feel for how small the interior of the lunar lander was. You can compare the huge full size lander with the close up interior and get a real feel for how small it was.

Ive been to a lot of aeronautical museums and this ranks high on the list. Amazing collection and well done exhibits. The best exhibition of the space race that Ive seen.

Great space museum taking you from the start of the space race between the USA and the USSR to private space businesses today. Many actual cosmonaut and astronaut artifacts, full sized space craft real and recreated, planes, two sections of the Berlin wall, and so much more. The museum alone is 3-4 hours to see. If you add the extra ticket items of the planetarium, show or flight simulator, you need to add more time.

Always a fun adventure for my kid and I! They also have a new kids area that he really enjoyed!

Love space stuff...and this place has a lot!

Amazing! So much to see. Very cool place. I wish I could spend more time to read all the signs and learn. The whole family enjoyed it, even young kids.

We visited today and we loved it. We could have spent more time here. There was a couple minor things that I could complain about but over all it was great. My 15 year old daughter loved it and said it was a great way to spend her birthday! It was very much worth the 3.5hr drive to come visit. We arrived at 10am and left around 4:30pm. It was a great place for the entire family.

Always such a great time coming here and learning about how we discovered all the things we know about the universe. The digital dome theater is an amazing experience!

A real Kansas gem. What a cool experience!

Love this place so much! Been there 3 times now and always more to see and learn.

Perfect place to learn and see space history.

So glad this excellent space museum has continued to thrive since its one of the few tourism gems Kansas has to offer. Also highly recommend Strataca salt mine in Hutchinson too. Perfect day trip combo if youre in the area

It was fun and a lot of things to learn.

The best look into space research and travel. We have enjoyed the museum many times visiting from California and recommend to everyone of all ages.

Fun and informative!Lots to see here!

This is an all day - or two day - place. Its better than the Houston Space Center, almost as impressive as the Kennedy Space Center, and on par with Infinity in Mississippi. I was shocked. If you buy the All-Access pass you see a 40+ minute movie, a neat live science presentation, and a planetarium presentation - each lasts basically an hour all-told. Then theres the actual exhibits - arranged like IKEA. Not an inch of this two-story facility is wasted. Theres an insane amount of fantastic things to see, all with excellent signage (if you read everything this is a two day experience), amazing original NASA / space program artifacts and many exhibits. I thought 6 hours would be enough. I was completely mistaken: I completely blew through 50% of the exhibits, not even reading the identification plate in front of what surely were items worth 5 minutes each.

Great place to visit for families and they have great summer camps too.

A great learning experience for people of all ages. Interactive enough for kids, lots of info for adults. Provides a detailed history of how mankind has used rocketry - against ourselves and to explore the cosmos.

Im not a huge history guy, but I really enjoyed everything at the Cosmosphere. Will have to return as we spent 4 hours here and could have easily spent another 4 hours. We saw the Goddard rocket lab and the Mountains documentary in the dome theater, and ate up most of the afternoon. If you want to see everything, plan on showing up in the morning to view most of the displays, so you can check out the afternoon demonstrations.They do have a nice Cafe inside so you can stay for lunch as well.

A world-class museum! If you are at all interested in the American and Soviet space programs from the first rockets and satellites to the space shuttles and beyond, this museum is a must see. The number of actual items from both Russia and the US space programs is astounding! Tons of information and experiences for space nerds! I have been to Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center and the Cosmosphere is just as amazing as those places if not better.We just toured the museum for 2+ hours and it wasnt nearly enough time. We never got to the IMAX theater, the flight simulator, the science experiment show or the planetarium. Plan to spend several hours there because youll be fascinated and inspired!

If I could give this place 10 stars I would. Flat out amazing! Space history comes to life here! Definitely plan to spend a lot of time here. And, you can see the actual Apollo 13 space capsule here!

Definitely worth the detour south from our planned route along I-70 back home to Colorado. This was our first visit, and we were pleasantly surprised by the number and quality of the exhibits. The exhibit descriptions really helped to put our space program into historical perspective, in a fun and interesting way. I just wish wed had more time to take it all in. Plan on at least three hours. Pro tip: if you have a membership to a major science museum, you can probably use it to get in for free here, as the Cosmosphere participates in a reciprocal membership program.

The exhibits are very informative, but there is one glaring inadequacy -- the museum basically ignores the women. I think there was a mention of a Russian cosmonaut, but I saw nothing about Sally Ride or any of the other women involved in the space program. Surely, there should be an exhibit about the black female calculators. After all, NASA named a building for Mary Jackson. They have rooms devoted to German predecessors to a rocket, surely they could have an exhibit or two on the women.

If you like planes and space travel it is a must, the only down part was the planetarium was directed at us like we were about 7 years old

Hadnt been in several years, being back brought up many fond memories from my teenage years. I brought two small children with me on this visit. While some things didnt interest them all that much, they had an absolute blast. They really enjoyed the museum and how close you are able to get to real rockets. Both were sound asleep within 10 minutes of leaving.We ate lunch on-site. They offer several different options and they are all reasonably priced. The three of us ate lunch for about $18. If youre looking for a souvenir, the gift shop has a decent mix if items. I was able to buy a shot glass, one kiddo got a stuffed space shuttle and the other got a telescope. The store also carries toys, books, apparel, meteorite pieces, writing utensils and many other space and Cosmophere related items.If I remember correctly there are only 7 items in the entire museum that are fake...can you spot them?

Had a blast today at the Cosmosphere. So much to learn about fast aircraft and space history. Wish i could bring my dad from out of state because he would love it.

The Cosmosphere was so neat! Me and my family had just watched the Apollo 13 movie, so the actual Apollo 13 space module housed in the Cosmosphere was especially interesting! We also enjoyed the many space artifacs and historic facts! We watched a neat demonstration of how a rocket works and enjoyed a cool show in the planetarium. There is so much to see and learn!

Great place to visit!! Very educational! Plan for plenty of time here! There are many exhibits on display, the focus is on rocketry, but they do have an SR-71, and a T-38 hanging from the ceiling in the main entryway. Apollo, Gemini, and mercury era capsules. Wonderful place!!

Awesome place. Camps are wonderful for kids. Enjoyed Dr Goddard lab, planetarium, documentary movies, and the museum. Shows conducted by professionals. Remarkable this place exists in middle America.

Amazing, super, and out of this world. Dont mind the plug. So much to learn and see. Will be keeping up with events and coming back.

This is a must visit place when travelling in and around Wichita. There is not much parking space so we had to park on the road side beside some residences. This space museum is quite frank in its narrative in that there are several displays that admit the Americans were out-smarted and taken by surprise when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite and sent the first man into space. There are several models and original equipment on display which are related to space exploration, a great place to visit with family and friends.♿️ This place has:Yes=Ramp access.Yes=A wheelchair-accessible Entrance.Yes=A wheelchair-accessible Restroom/Toilet.Yes=A wheelchair-accessible Seating.Yes=A wheelchair-accessible Parking.

It was fun and informative! I would definitely consider coming back with family and friends!

Its a awesome place. Very friendly people. Movies are reasonably priced.

Informative and interesting space museum! When we visited, the Odyssey (Apollo 13 capsule) was on display. Definitely recommend.

Had so much fun

I LOVE this place!! Filled with incredible history from the inception of the rocket in WWII to what space exploration is now. Amazing displays, actual artifacts and great readings to go along with it all. I highly recommend giving yourself 3 hours minimum to go thru just the museum alone. That doesnt include the movies and simulator. Im in awe this place even has the last 2 panels of wall taken down between East and West Germany. This is a gem for Hutchinson and Kansas overall.

Some of it under construction. And its pretty pricey. But good educational place.

Truly enjoyed our visit! The show about the astronaut training program in Houston was really interesting and extremely educational. Learned quite a bit! The planetarium was excellent, too, as were the exhibits.

Great space museum. My kids enjoy the shows they have there.

Could spend all day here... so much to see.AND they have the original APOLLO 13 capsule!

So many historic space exhibits. Highly recommend for space and history enthusiasts

Went to Cosmosphere a number of years ago with my buddies for a weekend road trip. It has a great collection of space exploration / race artefacts, including Russian equipment. We had fun.

Amazingly, Kansas aced out the Smithsonian for these displays.

So much family fun to be had! We had a blast and didnt even get to see everything.

Awesome place enjoyed seeing all the exhibits etc

Incredible Areospace & Space museum in the middle of Kansas! Great film screenings.

Great shows, exhibits, and friendly staff! I could spend multiple days looking at all of the displays.

Excellent exhibits the only reasons I gave it a four star rating is the size as such a big draw for the region its tiny because of this it is very limited in its exhibit space and ability, the second is its lack of interactives on a personal note if anyone from the staff reads this show the Apollo survival knife out of Its sheath we want to see it not just the sheath.

Really wonderful place for kids to explore a lot about space.