Photos and information panels on display in the “NASA Apollo Space Missions: Texas and American History" exhibit Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at the East Texas Oil Museum. (Les Hassell/News-Journal Photo)

During the next two months, visitors at the East Texas Oil Museum at Kilgore College will be treated to an out-of-this-world exhibit.

“NASA Apollo Space Missions: Texas and American History” is a traveling exhibit on loan from the Johnson Space Center in Houston and includes replica lunar rock displays, information panels and photos from all of the Apollo project missions as well as a replica of a Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit used in Apollo 12 training.

“The actual lunar rocks, I’m sure, are kept under extreme lock and key,” said Olivia Moore, manager of the museum, but added that the display does illustrate the geological variations of the moon. “The exhibit shows an important piece of history that all Americans and East Texans should know about, and it gives everyone the opportunity to view something right out of Johnson Space Center without having to travel to Houston.”

The centerpiece of the exhibit is a complete replica of a 180-pound spacesuit that was used to protect astronauts from extreme temperatures and micrometeoroid impacts while working outside of a spacecraft. Breathing air and coolant were provided directly from the spacecraft through an umbilical system that attached near the waist and chest of the suit.

“That’s crazy,” Kilgore College police officer Jessica Copeland said Tuesday as she studied the white suit with red and blue fittings. “I mean, all this [referring to her utility belt and equipment on her uniform] is heavy, but it’s not 180 pounds — but then they get up there, and I guess it’s nothing.”

The exhibit will run through March 26.

The museum on the KC campus is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

For information or to schedule a group tour, call the ETOM at (903) 983-8295 or visit www.kilgore.edu/oilmuseum .