An elevator to transport people to the moon, an inflatable habitat for living in space, a sleek new spacesuit for a stroll on Mars: These are some of the fascinating exhibits in Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration.

This new exhibition, at the Ontario Science Centre from October 3, 2012, through January 1, 2013, offers a thought-provoking vision of the future of space exploration as it boldly explores our next steps in our solar system and beyond.

Visitors will follow humanity's journey to explore the next frontier, from Sputnik 1 in the 1950s to a robotic submersible that could search for life on Jupiter's moon Europa in the future. Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration is locally presented by UrtheCast.

"Since 1969 when the Ontario Science Centre opened, weeks after Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon, and when, a few years later people lined up by the thousands to view our moon rocks, public interest in programs, films and exhibitions related to space has been very strong; Beyond Planet Earth will be a must-see for anyone wanting to learn more about exploring the universe.

The historic review will remind people of the excitement of the early Gemini and Apollo missions while future focused elements will stimulate us to consider the future potential of space exploration," said Lesley Lewis, CEO, Ontario Science Centre.

"As the Mars Rover Curiosity takes photos and analyzes samples of the red planet millions of kilometers away, reporting in daily to its Facebook friends, our visitors will see a life-sized model of Curiosity and walk through a representation of the landscape it is exploring."

The exhibition features an interactive electronic touch table game lets participants transform Mars by changing the atmosphere and surface conditions to create a habitable planet, or destroy it. Other displays allow visitors to "sniff the moon" or step inside a space suit prototype for a photo-op.

"After seeing this exhibition, some of our younger visitors may dream about whether they'll be able to travel into space in their lifetimes," said Dr. Hooley McLaughlin, Vice-President, Science Experience and Chief Science Officer, Ontario Science Centre. "Beyond Planet Earth may also spark an interest in aerospace engineering, astrophysics and other potential careers in space exploration."

The exhibition is on loan from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It includes original artifacts from previous space missions, scale models of prototypes and even samples of astronaut food.

"While we can't predict what the spaceships carrying us and our robots will look like, we do know where we're going, the challenges of getting there, and the opportunities available when we arrive at destinations as alien as anything out of Star Trek," said Michael Shara, Curator in the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History and Curator of Beyond Planet Earth.

Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org) in collaboration with Madatech: The Israel National Museum of Science, Technology and Space, Haifa, Israel.