The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History offers “NASA’s Earth Information Center at the National Museum of Natural History”—a 2,000-square-foot exhibition showcasing the dynamic forces and processes that are constantly shaping the planet.
The immersive exhibition features graphics, interactives and an enormous, state-of-the-art 32-foot-long, 12-foot-high curved video wall presenting awe-inspiring visualizations of Earth. These dramatic displays are created with data captured by satellites and sensors monitoring Earth and reveal how natural forces, climate change and human activities continuously alter the planet. The exhibition will remain on view through 2028.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, “NASA is a climate agency. With our fleet of over two dozen Earth-observing satellites and instruments, NASA leverages our unique vantage point in space to observe our planet and help those on the ground take action. The Earth Information Center provides easily accessible, readily usable, and scalable information on Earth’s environment and climate, and this new Earth Information Center at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History will bring NASA’s data to even more people.”
Researchers at both the Smithsonian and NASA strive to understand how the Earth works. But they often look at the planet from different vantage points. Smithsonian researchers usually take a boots-on-the-ground approach, studying ecosystems and geological processes up close in the field or through museum collections. NASA scientists often zoom out for a view of the entire planet, using satellites and other sensors to create a detailed snapshot of the Earth from space.
NASA’s space-based perspective launched the Earth Information Center (EIC). Building on data collected by NASA and other federal agencies, the EIC provides a live look at Earth’s conditions by tracking factors like global temperature, precipitation, sea level rise and the atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. This information helps policy makers, researchers and communities understand and respond to the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and natural disasters.
The EIC collects data that is not only vast but also detailed, and NASA scientists and engineers have developed exciting ways to make these extensive datasets easily digestible as well as visually dazzling. Utilizing a giant video screen called a Hyperwall, the EIC displays its data through colorful visualizations and striking imagery. These displays capture a constantly changing Earth by modelling weather patterns, tracking temperature fluctuations, mapping the spread of wildfires and retraction of ice sheets.
In addition the Hyperwall, museumgoers will have the opportunity to explore exhibit information panels and interact with touchscreen displays. One interactive display allows visitors to track the route of NASA satellites as they collect data on Earth. A model of one such satellite, NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite, will hang above the exhibition.