WAPAKONETA — The Armstrong Air and Space Museum on Wednesday is set to unveil an interactive virtual museum—available anytime, anywhere in the world at no charge.
The museum is celebrating its 50-year anniversary by uploading 360-degree photographic recreations of its exhibits, allowing visitors to tour the museum online.
“As the museum highlights our past and our 50 years of business, we also wanted to show our commitment to the future,” Dante Centuori, the museum’s executive director, said in a press release on Monday. “Having a virtual presence like this tour allows us to further preserve the story of Apollo 11 and continue inspiring our guests, whether in-person or virtually.”
The March 16 launch date is the 56-year anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first space mission on Gemini VIII, during which he performed the world’s first docking of two spacecraft while in orbit. The mission is documented in an exhibit on display in the museum’s Early Space Gallery.
Premium virtual tours featuring exclusive content curated by the museum’s collections department will go on sale for $4.99, available through the museum’s online store.
Free virtual tours will also be available, featuring interactive informational tags on select exhibits.
“Our main focus was to tell a fresh and cohesive story that highlights the exhibits and artifacts in a new way,” Logan Rex, a curator, said in a press release. “Sometimes museums are limited spatially in the stories they can tell about certain objects. Having this virtual space allows us to expand upon the stories that are shortened or missed in the museum.”
