REVIEW: Time to enter Starfleet at Liberty Science Center’s ‘Star Trek’ exhibition
Photo: Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience continues through May 28 at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. Photo courtesy of LSC / Provided with permission.
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — If you’re like me, you’d rather be in Starfleet right now.
The world of Star Trek has impacted culture and society for more than five decades. Ever since Gene Roddenberry’s creation first came on television in the 1960s, the journeys of Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy and countless others have delighted audiences and continue to do so in the franchise’s many iterations. Be it The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise or the new Discovery series, Star Trek is obviously going nowhere.
For fans who want a more intimate connection to the sci-fi phenomenon, a trip to Jersey City, New Jersey, is a must-do experience before the end of May. At the Liberty Science Center, the state’s best museum, is the expansive and wonderfully interactive Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience.
Tri-stater Trekkies may know the experience already because it played the Intrepid a couple of years ago. The same features have been reconfigured for the space at the LSC, and the sci-fi wonders of the exhibition have only gotten better.
Visitors will receive a wristband that checks them in to various interactive activities and quizzes throughout the entire exhibition. It’s important to use the wristband and try to hit each and every station. The device records your answers, and then at the end, you’ll find out what Starfleet position best suits you (this recent time I came out a Communicator, but at the Intrepid, I was a Science Officer).
As you work your way through the exhibition you will view authentic props and costumes from the Star Trek television shows and movies. There are activities in each themed area, so guests will have the chance to manipulate a tricorder while checking the vitals of a Worf-like Klingon. You’re able beam on to a ship using a green screen, and the re-atomized video of the beaming is actually saved on your account and later emailed to you. There’s a phaser-shooting game, a Klingon language lesson and a chance to pass the Kobayashi Maru training exercise. You’ll learn about engineering and command, science and medicine.
It’s all pretty awesome.
Perhaps the best re-creation is the original bridge from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Go ahead, sit in that captain’s seat and firmly, confidently say, “Engage!”
On my recent visit, it took about 90 minutes to travel through the exhibition and take part in all of the activities and quizzes. I could have spent three hours, and I actually did go back to a few stations multiple times. When the crowds are light, like they were on this visit, the experience is much more appreciated.
At the end, guests find out what position they are best qualified for, and then they receive an emailed Starfleet certificate and some photos and videos from the experience.
Liberty Science Center’s new exhibition makes it easy to see why Star Trek continues to engage its fans, and it makes entry into Starfleet a possibility rather than a far-off dream.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience runs through May 28 at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. Tickets with general admission to the rest of the museum are $32.75 for adults and $27.75 for children. Tickets with general admission to the rest of the museum and a theater show are $36.76 for adults and $30.75 for children. Click here for more information and tickets.
