New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum here in sweltering New York City has a new Star Trek exhibition running through until the end of October: the Starfleet Academy Experience.
As a cadet at the academy, a wide range of interactive exhibits allow you to diagnose injured Klingons in sick bay, set phasers to stun in security, investigate the unknown at the science station, and more. After completing and signing in to each interactive portion with your RFID wristband, all Starfleet cadets must take the Kobayashi Maru test from the bridge of the Enterprise. At the conclusion of your training, the system says which part of Starfleet you'd be best at: are you captain material, or would you be better off as the next Mr. Spock? I learned that I'm not really cut out for security, because phasers are actually hard to aim. Gun-shaped guns turn out to be much easier!
Because it's kid-oriented, the academy portion isn't too complicated or involved. For parents, the exhibit's various historical artifacts will probably be the most interesting. Props and costumes from the show are a window into how technology evolved from (ugh) Enterprise to the unfairly maligned Voyager. I know it had some ropey episodes, but c'mon, as a starship, the Intrepid-class Voyager was easily the coolest of the main ships: it had sports car styling, and the ability to land on planets in a starship beats the pants out of beaming down or riding a shuttle.
Speaking of shuttle craft, they're the biggest props of all, and one of them is on display at the museum. On the flight deck of the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier that gives the museum its name is, much to the chagrin of my Houston friends, the space shuttle Enterprise. The Enterprise has an important link to Star Trek, since its name was chosen after a write-in campaign by fans of the show. Temporarily parked alongside the Enterprise is the Star Trek shuttle craft Galileo, which was lovingly restored a few years ago after being abandoned and left exposed to the weather for decades.
There is, of course, the requisite gift store, too, where you can buy tribbles and other goodies.
The Intrepid Museum is fascinating and well worth a visit by just about anyone. Memorabilia aside, the Starfleet Academy Experience is a little light on adult content, but if you have kids that you're introducing to Star Trek—and really, why else have children?—it's a fun way to bring the Star Trek universe to life.
Listing image by Jennifer Hahn
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