Friday, October 28, 2016

OMSI

There's a famous museum here called OMSI, or the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
Have you heard of it?

Cheery stuff!

They actually have a famous submarine parked outside- the USS Blueback, which starred as a Soviet sub in the 90s movie The Hunt for Red October.


Back in the day, 85 men would be packed on the submarine for months at a time. 

Sub kitchen.
Portland thru the periscope.

The USS Blueback was on active duty for thirty years before being decommissioned in 1990. When I was a little girl, I took a summer science camp that concluded with an overnight stay on this submarine. We slept in the bunks after role-playing a top secret mission in the control room.


In the years since then, I've done the tour a couple of times.


You can take either a 45-minute general tour (done this) or a 3-hour technical tour (never tried that).


If you're not a fan of submarines, there are a ton of things to see and do inside OMSI too. Most of them are kid-oriented and hands-on. (Meaning there are hundreds of kids running around and touching everything [meaning I usually call this place GERMSI, haha.])


The newest craze is 3D printing. D is really interested in 3D printing, so we hung out at this exhibit for a while. I love all the inspirational Facebook "I printed legs for my dog!" and "This student printed his own braces!" stories (and this!!!), but the main output of 3D printers so far seems like stuff from the dollar store.


When you get science-d out, the OMSI cafeteria is perfect. (And if you're worried, it's nothing like a stolovaya.)


What's the best science museum you've ever been to?

Did you know there's a similar science museum in Kyiv called Experimentanium? It opened in 2012. Read the Kyiv Post article on it here.


3 comments:

  1. That summer camp sounds amazing! I would totally sleep on a submarine and role play even today!

    The best science museum? Cleveland has a pretty good one. I spent the night there one time because they had a Harry Potter night. I was like 17. I don't know if this counts as "science" but the Antropology Museum in Mexico City was AMAZING! The absolute best museum I've ever been to. Also, The Cosmonaut Museum in Moscow is awesome, but I don't know if those last two museums are actually "Science" related.

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    1. Yes, that museum in Mexico City is incredible!! But whaat? A Cosmonaut Museum? Did I see pics of that on your blog?
      Off to search... :)

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    2. Yeah, I did have photos on my blog :)

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