Star Wars exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry will be hosting a new exhibit. "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" is now open and runs through 6 January 2008. The exhibit features more than 80 props, costumes, and models used to make all six films. The Engineering Design Labs features interactive displays that give attendees the opportunity to imagine, create, and evaluate new technologies in both transportation and robotics. In the exhibit's Robot Object Theater, viewers will enter "a large-scale model of the sandcrawler from Episode IV for an engaging presentation on robots. Inside the dark, rusted-steel interior of the sandcrawler, you'll come face-to-face with an animatronic version of beloved Star Wars robot, C-3PO. He is joined (via video) by a real-world robotics engineer. The two have a thought-provoking and entertaining discussion on what makes a good robot." And a full-size replica of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit is the setting for a four-and-a-half minute "jump to lightspeed" and trip to the edge of the Universe.

The museum is also auctioning off a miniature X-Wing fighter used in the production of Episode IV and signed by George Lucas. The auction is part of the museum's annual fund-raising drive, and ends in about six hours (from press time). At the moment, the high bid is $5,223. See this page for more information or to bid.

Advance tickets, educational resources, and more information are all available on the web at this page.