In a given lifetime, very few people will experience the grandeur of space exploration.
Now, thanks to hard-working men and women, you can experience the spectacle & glory of space right here in Atlanta.
Beginning March 27, Space Explorers: THE INFINITE at Pullman Yards brings the world’s largest immersive space experience to the city for a limited engagement, giving visitors a chance to explore a life-size replica of the International Space Station (ISS) through virtual reality. The exhibition, presented by Infinity Experiences, has drawn more than half a million visitors across global stops, including Montreal, Houston, Singapore, and more than a dozen other cities, before landing in Atlanta.
The project grew out of a collaboration between two Montreal-based studios, PHI Studio and Felix & Paul Studios, which partnered with NASA beginning in 2021 to build specialized cameras and send them to the ISS. Over the course of two years and more than six missions, the cameras, some equipped with nine to 10 lenses allowing for full 360-degree movement, captured footage of astronauts’ daily lives aboard the station. The resulting exhibition spans four chapters, more than 60 unique videos, and required 21 days to build out the Pullman Yards facility.
“You put on a headset, and you’re going to explore a life-size replica of the International Space Station in virtual reality,” said Rory Seydel, Director of Marketing at PHI for the exhibition. “You get to see footage that was filmed in space, interviews with astronauts. It’s very intimate and awe-inspiring.”
Visitors are transported nearly 250 miles above Earth, moving in and out of the ISS across the hour-long experience. In addition to astronaut interviews and sweeping views of Earth from orbit, guests can watch NASA’s Artemis I rocket launch on giant screens and take in “The Universe within the Universe,” an audiovisual installation by artist Ryoji Ikeda.
The experience is based on the Primetime Emmy Award-winning series “Space Explorers: The ISS Experience,” created and produced by Felix & Paul Studios in collaboration with NASA and TIME Studios.
The ISS, which has been in operation for decades, is slated for retirement around 2030, making the exhibition a document of a particular era in human spaceflight. Seydel pointed to Atlanta’s deep ties to space exploration as a driving reason for the city’s inclusion on the tour.
“Atlanta has a really strong space community,” Seydel said. “There’s Georgia Tech, which has a number of astronauts who have come from it.”
Among them is Shane Kimbrough, who served as commander of the ISS during the filming of the experience and is a Georgia Tech graduate.
Fewer than 300 people have traveled to the ISS in the past two decades. For Seydel, the exhibition’s core mission is bridging that gap.
“Not everyone in their lifetime is probably going to end up going to space,” he said. “This immersive experience really gives you the feeling and that access to space, and who knows, it might inspire the next astronauts of the future.”
