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Date:  May 28–September 5, 2004
Location:  Aurora Gallery, Reckson Center Atrium, 1st Floor

Eleven interactive units, 1200 objects and four hours of video illustrate humanity's dreams of exploring space in the exhibit, Space Toys, produced by the Museum of Discovery (MOD) of Little Rock. The exhibit encompasses over 130  years of human imagination illustrated through over 1,200 space toys, models, print and electronic media, and collectables such as lunch boxes, comics, games, and pop-up books. It also includes current imaginative concepts of future space exploration. The exhibit also features clips of classic science fiction film and television from the Wade Williams Science Fiction Gold Video Collection distributed by Englewood Entertainment and The Passport Video Collection, A Century of Science Fiction. These segments are shown throughout the exhibit, thus bringing to life many science fiction classics from 1902 to 1960.

The extraordinary machines and destinations of space exploration spring from the imaginations of artists, engineers, directors of film, radio, and television, as well as toy designers. As the exhibit's subtitle states, "Your imagination and these toys can take you where no one has gone before."

The artifacts are displayed in large thematic cases, including colorful space art backgrounds. One exhibit case depicts The Black Hole; another depicts 2001: A Space Odyssey. Television classics like "Lost In Space," "Battlestar Galactica," and "Star Trek" each have their own exhibit cases.

Three large cases present Star Wars through scenes created with the toys of the films. Other cases depict a specific decade and the power of imagination. For example, in the "Imagine the 1950s" case, a child's bunk bed is filled with toys and collectables from "Tom Corbett," "Space Patrol," and "Captain Video." The bed has been transformed, through the child's imagination, into a planetscape based on the work of Chesley Bonestell, the leading space artist of the 1950s. This was also the golden age of cereal, radio, and television premiums, of which many examples are provided. The color, graphics, and texture of tin and cardboard toys of the 1950s are an interesting contrast to the plastic space centers found in the "Imagine the 1960s" case which turns a corner of a child's room into a multi-layered scene of Kennedy Space Center.

The exhibit uses visions of the past to illuminate the future. It also presents examples of contemporary engineering dreams such as space elevators and orbiting hotels. These are presented in cases exploring themes such as Space Ships, Space Stations, and Robots. No space exhibit would be complete without a look at Extraterrestrials, which the exhibit presents both through toys and an interactive unit challenging participants to design an ET for several different planet environments. Other theme cases include Star Travel and Medical presenting the medical technology of "Star Trek."

To expand upon the themes of the artifact exhibits, eleven interactive exhibits are included. Use a Balloon Rocket to explore the concept of action/reaction or Design a Robot to perform a task. Other activities let you see why we view Star Constellation Patterns in the sky, while another challenges you to Find a Comet in two star fields (hint: look for the dot that has moved).

The Wade Williams Classic Science Fiction Gold Video Collection includes such important titles as "Tom Corbett," "Space Patrol," "Rocketship X-M," and "Things To Come." The Passport Video Collection, A Century of Science Fiction, presents a comprehensive history of science fiction in the cinema. Portions of these and other videos will be played in the exhibit throughout the day.

The exhibit presents its story through several thematic threads which, depending on the interest of the participant, provide a variety of entry portals through which to explore the exhibit.
1. Toys are the tools of play, and over the 130 years the exhibit spans, the materials and technology of toys have changed dramatically.
2. Play frequently begins with a story providing the context of the play. The story provides the starting point of play. The exhibit includes many examples of different ways the story can be told, including books, cinema, and the news media.
3. Cinema, television, and radio have produced many space adventures that have stretched our imaginations to the farthest corners of the universe. Selected classics from each media are depicted.
4. Scientists and engineers also use their imaginations to propose hypotheses and machines which frequently seem more closely related to science fiction than science fact, yet these visions of tomorrow are the first step to creating the reality of the future.

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