New Mexico Museum of Space History celebrates its 50-year history in Alamogordo with an event on October 3, during which several groups will be inducted into the International Space History Hall of Fame, and an exhibit to tell the story of the museum opened earlier this month. Brianna Buller, curator supervisor of the New Mexico Museum of Space History, spoke with KRWG's Susan Morée about the celebration.
Susan Morée:
Bri, I recently visited the New Mexico Space History Museum and I had so much fun playing with the interactive exhibits and I just really felt like a little kid again. But tell us about this Golden Jubilee y'all have coming up.
Brianna Buller:
Yeah, so our 50th anniversary for the museum is happening October 3rd. The actual museum's 50th is October 5th, but because we wanted it on the weekend, we're moving it up a little bit to October 3rd. And it's going to be kind of a dual event. One half of that is celebrating the legacy of the museum, and then the other half is inducting the newest class into the International Space Hall of Fame, which we are home to. And during that part of the event, we are inducting five individuals and groups into that Hall of Fame.
Susan Morée:
And what else is going to happen during the Golden Jubilee? Is there a special exhibit?
Brianna Buller:
Yeah, so we just opened on August 8th, we just opened a brand new exhibit called To Build a Space Museum, and that exhibit is all about how we got our golden cube. And I think that story is really interesting because in 1973, a former mayor of Alamogordo was watching a commercial for the Baseball Hall of Fame. And then he just kind of had this epiphany of like, well, if you can have a baseball hall of fame, why can't you have a Space Hall of Fame? So then the next day he calls up all his friends, supporters. Within three days, he had governor approval. And then within three years, you had the Space Museum.
Susan Morée:
Wow.
Brianna Buller:
So I think that timeline is never, ever going to happen again. And I think that just shows how loud the community was like, yes, we want this. Yes, we support this. Let's do it, which I think is something that is wonderful to reflect on 50 years later, that that legacy has survived and that we still stand as a pillar for our community and are trying to give them, you know, those STEM services and also to help tell the story of not only space history but the pioneers that are even today helping to expand our knowledge of space exploration.
Susan Morée:
And the Space History Museum, it's beautiful and it's up on a big hill overlooking, you can see White Sands in the distance and it's just such a beautiful building. And the exhibits are just so much fun. I learned so much when I was there.
Brianna Buller:
Yes, yeah. And what's really exciting is in these next couple of years, we are going through a whole renovation of the museum. It's time, we're ready. We're currently getting ready to shut down our fifth floor so that we can completely strip it down, you know, put brand new paint on the walls, brand new panels, bring in more interactives, bring in more exhibits and artifacts to help really just rejuvenate the story that we're trying to tell for the museum, which is really exciting. This first big exhibit that's coming, it's all based on archeoastronomy, so one of the central bases for that will be Chaco Canyon.
Susan Morée:
Okay, and is there anything else we should know about the Golden Jubilee?
Brianna Buller:
It's sure to be a wonderful night, full of celebration, to be surrounded by community and just to really just celebrate the last 50 and to look forward to the next 50.
Susan Morée:
Thanks so much.
Brianna Buller:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.
For more information, visit the New Mexico Museum of Space History's website.
