Dinosaurs and Space Beckon : Museum to Offer New Adventures

The reptile groaned while moving its huge tail back and forth. Its eyes shifted and rolled as roars from it and other ancient lizards filled the room.

Lucy Olsen, who has seen the Tyrannosaurus rex countless times, still does a double-take whenever she walks through the exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and Sciences.

“Those eyes,” she said. “Did you see those eyes? Even though you know it’s not real, it still makes you turn around and look again.”

Several feet away from the T. rex was Orobtron, a metallic space craft that resembles a giant salad spinner. Orobtron’s main task is to twirl astronauts at break-neck speeds.

At the new museum, at 150 Columbia just north of Laguna Hills Drive, prehistoric times shake hands with the Space Age. When museum officials open their doors Saturday morning, they hope to attract dinosaur and space fans to their high-tech exhibits that feature robotic dinosaurs, as well as the county’s first portable planetarium.

The 13 rubbery prehistoric reptiles were the stars of a private showing that the museum offered to its volunteers and the media Thursday morning. The gigantic lizards, which roar with some electronic help, are expected to be the museum’s main attraction, said Olsen, a member of the facility’s board of directors.

The 12-foot-long T. rex, made of silicone and foam rubber with aluminum framing, loomed over his 12 equally extinct friends such as the stegosaurus and brontosaurus.

Volunteer Marcil Howard said her favorite exhibit was the baby dinosaurs. A nature-lover, Howard said she has spent hours marveling over two electronic protoceratops shown huddling over their hatchlings as they break out of their shells.

“I’ve always been interested in dinosaurs. And my 5-year-old grandson is crazy about them,” said Howard, who has taken a biology class to become a volunteer at the museum. “Everything about them is so fascinating.”

Edward Pitts, president of the museum’s board of trustees, said it should appeal to both adults and children. He agreed that the dinosaur exhibits will probably be the biggest draw.

“I think the kids will go nuts over the dinosaurs,” he said.

To make the dinosaurs as real as possible, each of the reptiles were hand-crafted. They stand on six-inch-high bases and are powered by computers, according to Susan Moore-Laux, the museum’s assistant director.

And ancient, reptilian sound effects were added as well. The screeches and roars that can be heard from the museum’s foyer are generated by voice boxes, Moore-Laux said. And each reptile has its own unique sound. Some roar while others squeak.

The dinosaur models represent three different time periods of millions of years ago, and are shown in arid environments that became more lush as they evolved, Moore-Laux said.

Created by the Japanese firm Kokoro, the models range in length from 4 to 40 feet and weigh up to 1,000 pounds each.

The computerized dinosaurs, which are capable of moving, will surprise those visitors who are accustomed to the stumblings of B-movie star Godzilla, who lumbered from one kill to another. Dinosaurs were actually capable of wide ranges of motion, Moore-Laux said.

For dinosaur buffs, the exhibit is a must-see, said Moore-Laux. The dinosaurs will be on display for four months before moving on to another museum, she said.

Although the dinosaur display is the most ballyhooed, visitors can easily move from the past to the future by walking to the space-exploration exhibit.

“Space: The Infinite Frontier” features a full-size replica of a Mercury spacecraft and a reproduction of the space shuttle flight bridge. In addition, Apollo II is on display as well as Orobtron, the giant gyroscope similar to the ones used to train astronauts.

Patrick Snyder, who helped set up the space exhibit, said that several items on display were donated by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other museums. The space exhibit contains a host of hands-on artifacts. Snyder said being able to touch artifacts is especially important for youngsters.

“It’s interactive entertainment,” he said. “It captivates their imagination in a way that being a couch potato can’t.”