The Pima Air and Space Museum had a massive variety of planes from all eras, from fighter jets to a plane built to break the record for the smallest plane capable of manned flight. There were a few NASA planes on display including a huge cargo plane and a plane built to allow it’s passengers to experience weightlessness. The space center documented the space race around the world and major achievements in space exploration. There was a full-scale mock-up of the lunar command module and models of the ISS and space shuttle. There was a large display dedicated to the Phoenix Mars lander again including a full-scale model, but unfortunately thus has not been updated recently and had no details on the conclusion and findings of the mission, despite my later research showing that mission had in fact concluded almost 7 years previously. There was a section on each of the planets, and one each on Europa and extreme life forms, showing how many of the missions have contributed to our understanding of the universe around us.
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a large outdoor museum that showcases local plant and wildlife. We were able to see mountain lions, coyotes and javelina, amongst other animals and many varieties of cacti. The museum had a section explaining the history of Arizona such as the basin in which Tucson is located was once filled with water, and displaying relics of previous civilizations and fossils found in the area. There was also a lovely room filled with samples of the precious and semiprecious metals, stones and minerals that can be found in the area. There were a number of interactive exhibits scattered throughout the museum, including a section where visitors were able to dig out their own fossil to keep, I was able unearth a trilobite to take home!
astrochar 