Houston Museum of Natural Science

The Houston Museum of Natural Science is a natural history museum established in 1909 to provide a free institution for the people of Houston focusing on education and science.

The museum complex consists of four floors of natural science halls and exhibits, a Planetarium, a Butterfly Center, and a Giant Screen Theatre. The museum is one of the most popular in the United States.

The museum’s permanent displays included a dinosaur exhibit, a space museum, and exhibits on geology, biology, petroleum science, technology, and geography.

In 1988, the Challenger Learning Center was opened in memory of the Space Shuttle Challenger crew members that were lost during the shuttle’s tenth mission.

In 2012, a new wing to house its paleontology hall, more than doubling the size of the original museum. The Paleontology Hall contains more than 60 large skeleton mounts, including three Tyrannosaurus rex and three large Quetzalcoatlus.

Entrance to the Butterfly Center in the Houston Museum of Natural Science

Highlights of the Houston Museum of Natural Science

A Planetarium presents a range of science and astronomy presentations.
A butterfly zoo
A 60 feet (18 m) long Foucault pendulum
Gems & Minerals exhibit of over 750 crystallized mineral specimens and rare gemstones
Wildlife exhibits of animals and wildlife native to Texas
The African Wildlife display of seven biomes of the continent of Africa
Three Tyrannosaurus rex
A Diplodocus
A Triceratops skeleton
Pre-Columbian archaeological artifacts.
Interactive chemistry displays
Energy exhibits which include a working replica of an offshore drilling rig drill floor
Ancient Egyptian artifacts
Computer-aided and hands-on exhibits about the Earth and its processes
An astronomy observatory equipped with three domed telescopes