These ARE the Droids We're Looking For

By Margaret Lyons in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 5, 2007 4:40PM

Dun-dun duuun, duuun, dadada duuuuuuuun! The "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" exhibit opens at the MSI today, sure to delight both science and Lucasfilm geeks alike with its focus on the legit science behind some of the fantasy elements of the movies.

The 10,000-square-foot traveling exhibit is split into two main themes: Getting Around, about transportation, and Robots and People, about ... yes, robots and people. There are plenty of props from the movies, but the real premise is that the technology in Star Wars influenced real-world developments, like Luke's landspeeder — you know, his hovercraft thingie whose shadow was one of the fixed VFX in the rerelease, pictured— inspiring "maglev" trains. What really caught our eye in the MSI press release, though, was this: "A full-size replica of the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon from Episode IV, provides a "jump to lightspeed" experience for small groups of visitors at a time." Nerdgasm. The exhibit includes lots of hands-on robotics features, too.

"Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" is here until January and costs an extra $10 for grown-ups and $9 for kids on top of general admission. The MSI is free on most Mondays and Tuesdays, though, so that's not that bad.