DALLAS — It’s launch day for the ninth unmanned test flight for SpaceX’s Starship. While all eyes will be glued on Boca Chica Beach on Tuesday, two Texas museums have been getting future space explorers excited about the universe.

In 2012, when the Perot Museum of Nature and Science opened, the Expanding Universe exhibit wasn’t included, and neither was the museum’s Digital Hall. 

Those two exhibits have only been open for less than two years, and that’s because as science advances and expands, so does the hall.

Drex Owusu, the chief learning officer at the Dallas museum, believes the future is bright when you can get the littlest of kids and the oldest of adults excited about space and science. 

“There’s been a lot of real interest in this. We hope that bodes really well for the future of space exploration from Space Core to our friends at SpaceX and Blue Origin,” said Owusu.

He has been at the museum for a short time, but his love for this kind of thing runs deep.

“I was a super science nerd. I still am a science nerd,” said Owusu.

Every year, he says a little under a million visitors from across the state and world stop by to experience the 11 permanent exhibit halls. One of those sites is the Expanding Universe Hall, an area completely dedicated to space and a galaxy far, far away.

“This is like one of the most exciting times to be alive, right? Like we are seeing new science breakthroughs and developments happen literally in real-time,” said Owusu.

The Perot Museum’s neighbor down south also has space on the brain.

“We had a traveling exhibit called Mission Astronaut that we helped develop that has since gone around and traveled, and we do have some more space elements in our explorer gallery that we’re kinda expanding on it,” said Meredith Doby, chief creative officer at The DoSeum.

The DoSeum in San Antonio is a science, technology, engineering and math or STEM-centered children’s museum.

Doby helped open the attraction a decade ago and believes with the consistent rocket launches by SpaceX and now Blue Origin, there’s a shift in enthusiasm.

“I do think there’s kinda been a resurgence, I think, of interest in space. NASA is planning a return to the moon doing different scientific studies at the moon. We’ve been working with Space Center Houston on an exhibit. And especially in Texas, you have, you know, SpaceX in Brownsville, and so I think yeah, I do think there’s been an increased interest,” said Doby.

In about a year, she says The DoSeum plans to add more space elements to its explore gallery and possibly have another spaced-themed traveling exhibit.