Great Lakes Science Center

About

Great Lakes Science Center opened in 1996 as part of Cleveland's downtown revitalization on the North Coast Harbor waterfront, directly adjacent to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 165,000-square-foot facility serves as both a science and technology museum and the official NASA Glenn Visitor Center, creating a rare combination of hands-on science exploration and real-world NASA research. The museum's exhibits are organized around themes of energy, the environment, and aerospace, with particular emphasis on the Great Lakes ecosystem that shapes life throughout the region. Interactive galleries let visitors explore wind energy, water turbines, solar power, and fossil fuel systems, with a strong focus on current energy challenges and solutions. The Great Lakes ecosystem exhibits connect visitors to the biology, geology, and chemistry of the lake system that represents the largest body of fresh surface water in the world. As the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, the museum provides access to real artifacts and technology from NASA's Glenn Research Center in nearby Brook Park, which specializes in propulsion, power, and communications systems for spacecraft. Visitors can see actual jet engines, satellite components, and displays on Glenn's contributions to missions from Mercury through the Artemis program. The omnimax theater presents documentary films on science and exploration. The science center's Cleveland-to-ISS exhibit highlights Northeast Ohio's significant contributions to spaceflight, from John Glenn to current payload experiments. Education programs include school field trips, COSI homeschool days (in partnership with Columbus's COSI), summer camps, and late-night adult science programs. The NASA connection provides unique opportunities for students to interact with working engineers and scientists.

Subject Areas

Best For