Review: The Smithsonian’s ‘Futures in Space’ Exhibit Is Surprisingly Backward-Looking

The jewel of the new “Futures in Space” exhibit at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is a Blue Origin New Shepard crew capsule. Visitors who come to the museum to be in the presence of objects that have touched the heavens may be disappointed when they learn that the capsule is merely a model. There’s a certain poetry, though, to the fact that Blue Origin has promised to hand over the real thing—just as soon as they’re done using it.

The exhibit leans oddly heavily on nostalgic artifacts, such as a life-sized R2-D2 and random video game swag. After all, thanks to a new golden age of commercial space flight, we’re living in the future already. Why not focus on that instead?