California Science Center

About California Science Center

The California Science Center is a science museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, next to the Natural History Museum and the University of Southern California. Its Ecosystems exhibit includes live animals and large aquariums, and the center is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Wikipedia says it is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a member of the Association of Science-Technology Centers, and is a Smithsonian Affiliate.

Wikipedia describes the center as a state agency operated as a public-private partnership between the State of California and the California Science Center Foundation, overseen by the California Natural Resources Agency. It reports attendance of 1,694,000 visitors in 2022, which placed the center tenth on Wikipedia's list of most-visited museums in the United States.

The animal habitats sit within the Ecosystems wing. The center's other permanent galleries cover life science, the human body, fire safety and aerospace.

History

According to Wikipedia, the museum's roots go back to 1912, when the first California State Exhibition building opened in Exposition Park. It became the California Museum of Science and Industry in 1951. A science wing with a mathematics exhibit called Mathematica opened in 1961, and a Hall of Health was added in 1968. Ahead of the 1984 Summer Olympics, the museum added an IMAX theater and new exhibits on earthquakes and economics.

The Northridge earthquake damaged the building in 1994. The museum closed in 1996 to prepare for a new facility, and reopened in 1998 as the California Science Center. The Ecosystems exhibit opened in 2010; a press release from the time places the ribbon-cutting on March 25, 2010.

On April 12, 2011, NASA announced that the center would receive the space shuttle Endeavour. Wikipedia reports that it arrived on October 14, 2012, and was displayed in the temporary Samuel Oschin Pavilion until December 31, 2023. Groundbreaking for the permanent home, the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, took place on June 1, 2022. NBC Los Angeles reported in June 2026 that the new center will open on November 13, 2026, and will display Endeavour standing 20 stories tall in launch position.

Exhibits and habitats

Ecosystems is an exhibit of about 45,000 square feet, according to the 2010 press release announcing its opening, which described 11 immersive environments and more than 250 species of plants and animals. Its largest feature is a kelp forest tank of 188,000 gallons with a 24-foot transparent tunnel. At the exhibit's opening, the release said the tank held more than 1,500 fish.

The release described zones for a river, an island, a Rot Room devoted to decomposers, a Global zone built around a six-foot Magic Planet projection sphere, an L.A. zone and a Family Discovery Room. An Extreme zone combined four environments: a rocky shore, a desert with a flash flood of 3,500 gallons of water that recurs every 10 minutes, deep ocean vents and the poles.

A March 2026 feature in UCLA's Bruin Life magazine describes the exhibit as currently open, with the kelp forest tank and its acrylic viewing tunnel, jellyfish, a tank of neon tetras, a hurricane simulator with winds up to 75 mph, an ice wall simulating polar temperatures and a desert zone with an artificial cave.

Elsewhere in the building, Wikipedia lists World of Life, which covers life processes and microscopic organisms and includes BodyWorks, a 15-minute show built around a 50-foot animatronic human body simulator named Tess. It also describes a fire safety exhibit set inside an apartment building, developed in partnership with the Children's Burn Foundation, and a seven-story IMAX theater.

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center is described as a 200,000-square-foot addition with the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, the Kent Kresa Space Gallery and the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery. NBC Los Angeles reports a replica flight deck, a Shuttle Descent Slide that drops 45 feet, and a gantry-style elevator. It says timed reservations will be required, with details to be announced on the center's website and priority access for members.

Conservation and programs

The center's live-animal exhibits are concentrated in Ecosystems, which the 2010 release described as showing how the living and physical worlds are interconnected, and which Wikipedia describes as letting guests experience the natural world first-hand. The center also hosts the California State Science Fair each year, according to Wikipedia.

Planning your visit

Wikipedia states that general admission to the permanent galleries, demonstrations and aircraft and spacecraft displays is free, while fees apply to special exhibitions, IMAX films, and activities such as a climbing wall, a motion simulator and a high-wire bicycle. The Air and Space Center will require timed reservations when it opens on November 13, 2026, according to NBC Los Angeles. Hours and reservation details are on the center's website.