Two Montreal production companies are providing Atlantans a chance to feel what it’s like to be an astronaut inside and outside the International Space Station.
With cooperation from NASA, they installed three custom-designed 3D, 360-degree virtual reality cameras: two inside the ISS and a third specially designed to film outside in space.
The “Space Explorers: The Infinite” experience at Pullman Yards is open Tuesdays through Sundays and is expected to be around for at least three months. Ticket sales at feverup.com currently run through the end of April and start at $25.60 for adults with an early 20% discount.
Using VR goggles, users will walk through a life-size rendition of the station and over 45 minutes sample different videos of the astronauts doing experiments, prepping for a space walk and living in zero gravity. (The experience does not replicate zero gravity.)
It ends with 3D video of an actual space walk.
Guests will see sweeping views of Earth from orbit and get the sensation of being in outer space without ever leaving the ground.
“We want people to understand what it’s like to see the Earth from space,” Julie Tremblay, general manager of PHI Studio and Infinity Experiences, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during a media tour of the experience this week. “We hope once you experience that, it makes you appreciate the need to preserve the planet and take care of it.”
More than a half-million people in a dozen cities have viewed the show since it debuted in 2021, according to Infinity Experiences, which specializes in immersive experiences.
Credit: INFINITY EX
Credit: INFINITY EX
The experience embeds interviews with eight astronauts and quiet moments of Earth-gazing that evoke the “overview effect” — an overwhelming feeling astronauts often describe when seeing Earth from space.
“It’s real footage, so you see Earth like we do,” said Shane Kimbrough, a Houston-based Georgia Tech graduate and retired astronaut who has been to the space station three times and spent a collective 388 days in space. “Besides microgravity, you feel like you’re there.”
In Atlanta to promote the experience and visit his Atlanta-based brother, Kimbrough noted that the experience offers virtual orbs for users to touch, which set off any one of 60 different videos that last 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
As a result, people won’t have enough time to actually see everything in one visit. “If you go back a second time, it won’t be the same as the first,” Kimbrough said.
Credit: ROD
Credit: ROD
The real International Space Station, 250 miles above Earth, has been inhabited by more than 290 individuals from 26 countries since 2000. Seven people can stay in the space station at any given time.
The orbital outpost is larger than a six-bedroom house, with six sleeping quarters, two bathrooms, a gym and a 360-degree-view bay window.
Scientists conduct a variety of experiments there, such as searching for dark matter and exploring the effects of space radiation and microgravity.
“We get to benefit humanity, which is a very special piece of our job,” Kimbrough said. “And it’s not like we’re just helping the United States. The research helps everybody. It’s cool to be part of something this big.
Five international space agencies, including NASA, and more than a dozen countries have contributed to the assembly of the space station, which is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2030.
Pullman Yards has hosted a variety of immersive experiences in recent years starting with the popular Van Gogh exhibit in 2021 followed by experiences ranging from “Stranger Things” and “Bridgerton” to “Jurassic World” and Balloon Museum.
The site is currently hosting “Serial Killer: The Exhibition,” which will be neighbors with the space experience for at least a few weeks.
IF YOU GO
“Space Explorers: The Infinite.” Beginning March 27, hours will vary. Ticket prices begin at $34 for adults, $24 for children. Pullman Yards, 225 Rogers Street NE, Atlanta. theinfiniteatlanta.com
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