Ninety-six years to the day the RMS Titanic sunk to the ocean floor after striking an iceberg, Carnegie Science Center announces a special summer presentation of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, opening May 24 and running through September 1.

This must-see, blockbuster family attraction offers visitors a chronological journey through a dramatic recreation of this legendary ¡®unsinkable¡¯ ship, lost on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. Created by Premier Exhibitions Inc., this traveling exhibition features more than 260 artifacts such as spoons, china, personal effects, coins and jewelry.

The Exhibition has been designed with a focus on the legendary RMS Titanic¡¯s compelling human stories as best told through these authentic artifacts and extensive room re-creations. A passenger¡¯s suitcase, a leather shoe, a gentleman¡¯s spectacles, china etched with the logo of the elite White Star Line, the ship¡¯s D-Deck door ¡Ü these and many other objects offer haunting, emotional connections to lives abruptly ended or forever altered.

¡°Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition isn¡¯t just about the historical aspects of the sinking of the Titanic,¡± said Joanna Haas, director of Carnegie Science Center. ¡°It also deals with the science behind what was hailed as a tremendous engineering feat, which ended in disaster. Ninety years after the sinking of the Titanic, science played a role in developing ways to salvage artifacts from the wreckage area surrounding the ship.¡±

Visitors are quickly drawn back in time to 1912, as each receives a replica boarding pass of an actual passenger upon entrance. The Exhibition will then take guests on a chronological journey through life on the Titanic; from the ship¡¯s construction to life on board, the fated sinking, and modern day recovery efforts.

Authentically recreated rooms including first- and third-class corridors and cabins and outdoor caf¨¦ are appointed with artifacts recovered from the shipwreck site 2.5 miles below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. In a poignant representation of what passengers must have felt while waiting for rescue, a simulated iceberg is cooled to the same temperature of the water that fateful night. Visitors are then invited to touch the iceberg see how long they can hold their hands against its frozen surface.

Carnegie Science Center is in the process of recruiting volunteers to help with this exhibition and to assist in developing a section of the exhibition dedicated to western Pennsylvania connections. Call 412.237.1621 for more information.

The Exhibition is produced by Atlanta based, RMS Titanic, Inc. RMS Titanic, Inc. is the only company permitted by law to recover objects from the wreck of the Titanic. The Company was granted Salvor-in-possession rights to the wreck of Titanic by a United States federal court in 1994 and has conducted seven research and recovery expeditions to Titanic¡¯s debris field which recovered approximately 5,500 artifacts.

Date(s):
2008 May: 24-31
2008 Jun: 1-30
2008 Jul: 1-31
2008 Aug: 1-31
2008 Sep: 1

Location: North Side

Venue: Carnegie Science Center

Contact Phone: (412) 237-1621

Time Info: See Science Center hours