The Tulsa Regional Chamber on Friday helped celebrate the Tulsa Air and Space Museum’s newest permanent exhibition: Beyond Boundaries: Tulsa and the Space Race.

It explores Tulsa’s pivotal yet overlooked role in America’s journey to space, highlighting the people, industries and innovations that helped propel the nation into the Space Age.

“At the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, our ambition is honoring the past and inspiring the future,” said Tonya Blansett, executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum (TASM). “This exhibit embodies that mission by recognizing the remarkable men and women of Tulsa’s aerospace workforce who contributed their skill, ingenuity and determination during the Space Race.

“From the Apollo era to space shuttle era and beyond, the hands and minds of people right here in our community helped shape humanity’s journey into space.”

Renowned space historian and author Bill Moore, a University of Oklahoma alum, curated the exhibit.

“I want Tulsans to know the exceptional work that has been done in the past and continues to be done in the aerospace field in Tulsa,” he said. “…That is what this is about, to finally get all this out in the open, so people can say, “Look at what we did. Isn’t that outstanding.”

The exhibit and opening celebration were made possible through the support of the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority and Gelvin Foundation.

TASM has been exposing students to real-world applications of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) since 1994.

“More than 50,000 visitors walk through this museum every year,” said Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “That’s 50,000 opportunities to inspire, 50,000 chances to connect history with possibility.

 “In a time when STEM education is more important than ever, exhibits like this make science tangible. They transform abstract equations into real-world achievement. They invite young people to ask bigger questions and give them the tools to pursue the answers.”