12 mind-blowing experiences for kids (and kids at heart) at new L.A. Air and Space Center
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Set us as preferred Hands-on experiences dominate the new Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, where encountering artifacts that highlight aerospace history is on equal footing with learning about its future.The many interactive exhibits that dot the new building’s 200,000 square feet of gallery space are geared to entice and educate people of all ages.But kids will be especially intrigued.
The center’s leaders, including Science Center President and Chief Executive Jeffrey Rudolph and Ken Phillips, curator of aerospace science, said during a recent tour that in many ways the museum is meant for kids.It’s not a childish place, but it does produce childlike wonder.
It’s hard to remain cynical when you’re surrounded by physical evidence of the vast nature of the universe.The sheer scale of it hits you all at once.It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you step into the museum, with its planes hanging from the ceiling and its rockets jutting through the floors.
This list of the best interactive exhibits on offer will help you plan a successful visit in advance.Just be sure to brace yourself for your children’s inevitable wails when you try to pull them away.
And expect lines — these experiences are likely to be in high demand.The 115-foot-long shuttle descent slide at the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center goes very fast.
(Allen J.Schaben, top, and Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) Two 115-foot-long tubular metal shuttle descent slides whisk visitors from the upper floor of the Endeavour shuttle gallery to the base of the shuttle — a drop of 45 feet in elevation.
The speed of your journey depends on what you’re wearing.Jeans create friction to slow you down, as will your skin if you’re in shorts or a skirt.
Weight also plays a role, so be careful if you send your 6-year-old down the slide in stretch pants.The kid will fly, and depending on their thrill-ride tolerance, will emerge grinning o...