The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has unveiled At Home in Space, an immersive gallery that transports guests into the heart of the International Space Station’s US Destiny laboratory. The exhibit occupies a full-scale replica of the US National Laboratory, allowing people to stroll the same corridors that astronauts use while orbiting Earth. Interactive consoles let visitors manipulate the station’s hardware, while curated displays showcase the personal gear astronauts rely on during missions.
Hands-on science and the scent of orbit
One of the most talked-about stations within the gallery is a series of scent pods that answer the age-old curiosity, what does space smell like? Small fragrance oils release aromas that mimic the metallic, burnt-gunpowder notes reported by crew members aboard the ISS. Curator Levasseur highlighted the experience, saying it is “my absolute favorite thing to work on in this gallery.” In addition, the hall features the miniPCR biotech toolkit and the MinION portable sequencer – the very devices that enabled the first DNA sequencing experiments in microgravity. These pieces illustrate how cutting-edge biology is moving beyond Earth’s laboratories.
Historic hardware on display
Adjacent to the scent stations stands the first 3D printer used in space. Deployed in 2014 through a partnership between Made In Space (now part of Redwire) and NASA, the printer churned out hundreds of items, from custom tools for astronauts to replacement parts for the station’s infrastructure. The exhibit underscores how additive manufacturing has become a cornerstone of on-orbit sustainability. At the far end of the gallery, a scale model of Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft occupies the spot reserved for the Artemis I capsule, which completed an uncrewed lunar flyby in 2022. The real capsule is slated to arrive at the museum later this year, replacing the model and completing the exhibit’s narrative arc from low-Earth orbit to lunar exploration.
Renovation milestones and future openings
The At Home in Space gallery marks the culmination of the museum’s most ambitious overhaul ever undertaken. The first phase, opened in 2022, introduced eight new or reimagined galleries, a revamped Northrop Grumman Planetarium, a modern museum store, and the Mars Café. The second phase launched in 2025 with five additional galleries, and on July 1 five more opened, expanding the museum’s footprint dramatically. The final piece of the puzzle arrives on November 11 with the debut of “Modern Military Aviation,” a gallery that will sit alongside At Home in Space as the renovation reaches completion. Director Chris Browne, the John and Adrienne Mars Director, emphasized that the project restores the museum’s ability to showcase the nation’s aerospace heritage in a fully integrated, free-admission environment, though timed-entry passes are now required.
Overall, At Home in Space blends education with sensory immersion, providing a hands-on glimpse into daily life aboard the ISS while looking ahead to humanity’s return to the Moon. Visitors leave with a deeper appreciation of the technology that keeps astronauts safe and productive, as well as a palpable sense of the smells, sounds, and tools that define spaceflight today.
