HUNTSVILLE, AL – The premiere summer event in North Alabama is just over two months away, and the clock is running! The world famous Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit opens Friday, June 25th, and tickets are already selling briskly.

Produced by the Museum of Science, Boston and Lucasfilm Ltd., and presented by Bose Corporation, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination features approximately 80 actual costumes, props and models from all six of the Star Wars films, plus a number of activities and experiments that draws visitors of all ages into the science and excitement that is the Star Wars world.

“I saw kids as young as 2 and 3 years, along with senior citizens up in their 70′s working the augmented reality stations, plus building their own cars and trying them out on the special maglev track,” said Holly Beach, the USSRC’s Vice President of Marketing who visited the exhibit recently in Alaska. She added, “It’s a fun exhibit to see, but what impressed me the most is how the science depicted in the films is handled. You become totally immersed in it.”

While the museum will be filled with actual items used in the various Star Wars films, such as Luke Skywalker’s original landspeeder from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, on display for the very first time, the exhibit is much more than a series of static displays. Visitors can operate a car that floats on a cushion of air, design their own robot, conduct hands-on experiments with magnetic levitation, build a spaceport and even experience the “jump to lightspeed” aboard a partial replica of the Millennium Falcon cockpit!

Tickets for Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination are also available on-line, and reservations are strongly encouraged. “We’re expecting thousands of additional visitors this summer to see this exhibit,” Beach said. She added, “You might be able to just walk-up some days and buy a ticket, but there could be a wait of several hours before you can actually get in. And we fully expect some dates to sell out completely.”

In an effort to maximize the potential economic impact, the Huntsville-Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau is opening a satellite office at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center during the exhibit to assist visitors in planning the remainder of their stay in the Rocket City.

Huntsville becomes the twelfth stop for Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination since its original opening at the Museum of Science, Boston, in 2005. More than two million people have viewed the exhibit thus far, demonstrating the enormous following and fan loyalty to the science fiction-fantasy epic developed by George Lucas.

Meanwhile, preparations at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center are well underway with new walls being constructed within the main museum building to establish the exhibit’s parameters. Soon, virtually all of the exhibits currently in the main building will be moved to storage in order to make room for Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination, which requires approximately 12,000 square feet of floor space.

A special VIP reception officially opening the exhibit is scheduled for Thursday evening, June 24th. More than a hundred members of the 501st Legion, in costume, are expected be on-hand. A limited number of tickets for that event are still available on-line.

It promises to be a busy summer at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Make your travel plans early and secure your reservations for Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination. May the force be with you.