Museum and Galleries

YOUR PLACE TO GLIMPSE A PIECE OF SPACE.

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Schedule a visit to the PARI museum and galleries to explore the role PARI played as a pioneer during the early days of the U.S. space program. View our wide collection of rare meteorites, NASA Apollo and Space Shuttle artifacts, many of which have flown in space, and a wide collection of gems and minerals.

NASA & Space Exhibits

Touch parts of the space shuttle and view some of it’s instruments. See inside the satellite that relayed the first satellite TV from PARI to the world. Imagine yourself arriving at the Moon in our 1/3 scale model of the Apollo Lunar lander, or explore the components of our Redstone Rocket engine.

You might even fit inside a tire from Space Shuttle Discovery!

Meteorite Collection

Our meteorite collection represents an amazing depth and variety, with specimens that impacted around the world on almost every continent. Entire meteorites and slices that show off the internal structure exemplify all the major classes and types.

Learn about how we study meteorites and determine their origin with examples from the Moon and Mars. Discover what they reveal about the early solar system with rare finds like a volcanic rock from an ancient planet. Peek into the past at a piece of the first meteorite who’s fall was documented by stunned onlookers in 1492.

Rock & Mineral Collection

Check out our impressive collection of gems and minerals from different parts of North Carolina, including a 15.3 carat emerald, some radioactive uranium ore, the “Carolina Heart” amethyst, garnets, quartz, and more. Discover minerals that are essential to technology and space exploration and played a part in PARI’s history, like mica and kyanite. Our fossils and dinosaur egg you can hold in your hands reveal just how much of an impact meteorites can have on a planet.

Many other examples from around the world await. And, don’t miss the dark fluorescent tunnel that shows the interaction between light and matter with minerals that change colors before your eyes!

Museum and Galleries

YOUR PLACE TO GLIMPSE A PIECE OF SPACE.

NASA & Space Exhibits

Meteorite Collection

Rock & Mineral Collection

Plan your visit to PARI

1 PARI Drive, Rosman, NC 28772 | 828.862.5554

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