BOSTON – Explore two of the most compelling locations known to man – space and the depths of the ocean – in one afternoon with a trip to two special temporary exhibits now on display at the Museum of Science, Boston.

Space – An Out-of-Gravity Experience – gives visitors a taste of the beauty, dangers, and challenges of living and working on the International Space Station.

The IMax film – “The Great Barrier Reef “– showing in the museum’s Mugar Omni IMax Theater, immerses the viewer in the sights and sounds of life along one of the world’s most beautiful – and endangered – ecosystems.

My family and I were fortunate to be able to take in both of these exhibits – and much more – during a recent trip to the Museum, and it was hard to decide which one we enjoyed the most.

Narrated by Jemma Craig, who grew up on Green Island in the Reef, where her family has operated a zoo for decades, “The Great Barrier Reef” follows the young Queenslander as she leaves her island home to board the Argo research vessel, filming its travels and underwater explorations as it crisscrosses a large swath of the Reef.

Among the more troubling scenes are those of the turtle she rescues, which turns out to have eaten plastic waste, and needs an emergency trip to the nearly all-volunteer staffed Turtle Rehabilitation Center on nearby Fitzroy Island (it survives), and footage of swaths of browning coral – damaged by environmental changes. These and several other subtle environmental messages are woven into what otherwise is 40 minutes of breathtaking shots of brightly colored tropical fish and anemones, scenes of divers swimming with stingrays and other large sea creatures, and stunning footage of Craig and fellow Argo divers taking part in a perilous nighttime dive off the reef. The glimpses of the glowing sea creatures – iridescent in the ink-black water – were amazing!

The film also spotlights the Reef’s first sustainable eco-resort on Lady Elliot Island, which experienced severe erosion and soil damage during mining there in the late 1800, and efforts by the Australian Institute for Marine Science to develop hardier corals to help bolster the reef against further environmental decay.  Rare footage of coral spawning is one of the other visual surprises of this film.

Seeing this beautifully crafted documentary in a traditional theater would have been an outstanding experience. Experiencing it within the 50-foot dome of the Museum’s IMax Theater brought the sights and sounds so close you felt a part of the exploration. The Museum of Science, Boston, premiered this film in July, and will be showing it in a daily rotation in their Imax Theater through the rest of the year. Tickets for the Mugar Omni IMax Theater only are $10 per person, Imax films can also be added to the general museum admission for an additional $6 per person.

Heading in a different, but equally uncharted direction – Space –An Out-of-Gravity Experience – brought us all up close with the beauty of the cosmos, and the perilous challenges of living and working outside the protective atmosphere of earth. The temporary exhibit, located on Level 2 of the Green Wing of the Museum, begins with stunning photos of the Earth from Space and a maze of candid video interviews with scientists, space station and space suit designers, and astronauts who have lived on the International Space Station, all talking about ways to overcome the problems facing humans living and working in space now, and in the future. Then the fun begins, as visitors get the chance to understand some of the challenges of daily living in space. Have you ever thought about how astronauts prepare their meals? There’s a Space Station kitchen simulator that explains the process. Ditto for the human waste elimination system (eg. the space toilet), where you learn that urine is recycled into drinking water on the Station.  For real-life experience, visitors can do things such as try to create a small stack of blocks while wearing inflated space gloves (to simulate working in zero gravity) or “go weightless” in one of the two zero-gravity simulating environments that mimic the slow rotation of a section of the Space Station. Standing on the narrow bridge while the simulated station module moved around us proved a bit dizzying, and unnerving – but we all still stood in line to do it twice.  As a die-hard space buff, I have to say this was my favorite exhibit.

The Museum of Science Boston, offers a mix of permanent and temporary exhibits throughout three wings, plus shows in the Charles Hayden Planetarium, the Mugar Omni IMax Theater, and a live butterfly garden. Exhibit hall admission is $28 adults, $24 seniors age 60 and older, and $23 for children three to 11 years of age.

Planetarium, Imax and butterfly garden are an additional charge.  For hours, directions and a full description of exhibits visit www.mos.org.