Yesterday, I wrote about my misadventures at the start of my road trip. Today, I have stories from one of the places I visited: the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). While I have nothing nice to say about the drivers, pedestrians, or traffic infrastructure of that city, it does have a few destinations worth visiting, and this is one of them.
OMSI is a solid family destination, especially for homeschoolers who might want to enrich their curricula, or parents of kids with an interest in science in general. There are several distinct zones, and I'll try to cover them all, but some are necessarily a bit empty.
Kendall Planetarium
This is what my family would call a "costs-money thing to do" with an additional fee on top of basic admission. I had limited time and limited funds, so I chose other activities. There was a hall with various displays including meteorites and legends about constellations.
Turbine Hall
Here's a part of the museum with lots of kid-focused activities. If you like hands-on science, and need to entertain children, this is a major point of interest. There was a physics lab, a chemistry lab, model cranes showing how seaports work, an earthquake room, and more.
For me, the solitary steam turbine now serving as an exhibit was the key point of interest. It has a sign explaining its parts and how they work in reasonable detail, especially in an otherwise kid-focused exhibit space.
I didn't get a lot of photos of the kid activities because I didn't want to be sharing photos of random strangers, but here's a look at a large learning space with various water-themed projects. There was also a wind activity and a variety of game-like challenges. There were options for anyone from early grade school through at least the middle grades, so this is a solid option for students.
We're done with the northern wing. On to the south wing, ground floor!
Gift Shop
Overpriced science-themed tchotchkes and T-shirts. Don't bother, unless you really want a souvenir.
Empirical Theater
Another "costs-money thing to do" that didn't fit my schedule or budget. This used to be an Omnimax theater.
Exquisite Creatures Revealed
This is the big focus in what seems to be a rotating series of exhibits. Christopher Marley uses insects, birds, and other creatures as his media. Most non-insect specimens are animals which died in captivity, or in the case of sea creatures, by-catch from commercial fishing. He also uses minerals in some pieces, usually as a way to enhance the creatures.
Skin Deep, royal pythons
Stippled Urchin Triptych, sea urchin casts and sand dollars
Eden Falls, parakeets, butterflies, beetles
This is a very limited selection from the collection. It spans portions of two floors, with entry past the gift shop and before the Theory Eatery (this restaurant was closed when I was there) where a brief introductory video explains the artist's vision and background. A stairway leads up to the top floor with even more.
Personally, while I found the art interesting, it was quite light on serious thought. It also leans heavily on inspiring feelings. One display placard almost repeated the water-diamond paradox verbatim with no reflection beyond suggesting it has some deeper meaning about values. Pop psychology is not science. Your mileage may vary.
Upstairs, there was more beyond this exhibit.
Life Sciences Hall
A circular display of preserved fetuses shows the stages of development in human life before birth. Photography is explicitly prohibited, and I didn't violate that, so I don't know how harshly it is enforced. There are all real human remains, so it didn't feel right to take snapshots anyhow.
Other displays included fossils and a hands-on lab area I didn't really explore. Instead, I walked into the adjoining space...
Playing with Light
Another kid-friendly exhibit space, and no photos because it was swarming with kids. There was a spectrometer display, a kaleidoscope you could climb into, a color mixing wall, and more, all very hands-on.
Science Playground
Got preschoolers? Here's a safe play-and-learning space with zones for climbing, crawling, and building. I didn't poke around in there, but families may want to visit.
Beyond that, there's not a lot else inside. Outside, however, is a singularly impressive bonus exhibit, and I decided this costs-money thing to do was worth the expense!
USS Blueback
The USS Blueback (SS-581) is one of the last diesel-electric submarines before the Navy adopted a fully nuclear-powered fleet. According to the guide, the first nuclear attack submarines were essentially the same layout with a stretched hull allowing for a reactor in front of the diesel engines, which were kept for redundancy through all nuclear sub designs to the present day.
The tour begins inside the museum with a replica of the smallest hatchways. Participants must demonstrate their ability to move through this opening as a prerequisite to board the sub. Then, the tour participants are led outside and along the riverside path until they reach the dock where the Blueback is moored. Along the way, we passed the screw (propeller) from the sub. It's about 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter and has been made into a memorial to submariners who died in the line of duty.
USS Blueback (SS-581) moored on the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. Photo by Ozma1981 via wikimedia
The sub has been modified to accommodate visitors somewhat. An entrance structure on the hull and steep stairs replace the vertical ladders the original crew used. We were led first to the officers' mess where our gude talked about the construction of the boat and some details of crew life. Then we climbed through some (relatively) large hatches to see the control room. There were some demonstrations of alarms, and a chance to peer through the pair of periscopes at the city skyline.
After that, we descended a steep and narrow stair into the lower deck and crawled through one of the small hatches into the torpedo room. This was one of three attack submarines built to hunt and destroy enemy vessels with speed and silence. It carried a variety of torpedoes for submarine and surface targets.
Then we toured a portion of the crew quarters, saw some uniforms, learned about life on board, and heard tales of crossing the equator. After this, we moved further aft to the mess hall where we heard about how a sub was stocked with supplies for its 2-month missions. Essentially, all decks and every possible storage space were packed with cans and bags of food. In exchange for cramped quarters and the exceptional hazards of their job, they were at least ensured the best food the Navy could supply.
Finally, we moved further aft to see the engine room. 1500 horsepower Diesel engines are linked to generators which charge massive banks of batteries. These sustain the ship when it dives underwater and cannot bring air to feed combustion. It's also a lot quieter to run on electric motors. I took a snapshot of the engine room control console and shared it as a Snap yesterday.
Concluding Thoughts
All told, I thought this was a worthwhile museum visit, and even though it wasn't entirely to my satisfaction, there's something here for everyone regardless of age and interests. If you must descend into the urban hellhole that is Portland, Oregon, then make OMSI part of that visit.
I really didn't like driving here. Unlike my experience in Pasco, drivers here seem to have little regard for other drivers, traffic signals, or basic rules of the road. Pedestrians jaywalk unexpectedly into heavy traffic. Bicyclists have zero awareness of basic physics. If you park at OMSI, buy a pass for the whole day and take public transit from there if you can. Visit the Oregon Zoo via light rail, take the bus to Powell's, and so forth to any other points of interest without your blood pressure spiking.
On a tangential note, there has been a lot of hullabaloo surrounding Portland's politics, homelessness problem, and urban decay. I did see a few homeless camps along the freeway and in town, so it's not a nonexistent problem, but my limited observations suggest it's not as bad as conservative muckrakers might say. Then again, it's also October, and no one wants to be this far north and stuck outside, so the seasonal change may have pushed people elsewhere, too. The ads I suffered through while watching TV for local weather reports were painful. So much vitriol and self-righteousness with vague promises and character assassination. People seem to believe "democracy" is the highest form of civilization, but this can't be how we build a better society.
All photos by me unless otherwise noted.
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