Museum of Sci-Fi Joins Forces with Science Channel

The planned Museum of Science Fiction will be partnering with the Science Channel to provide sponsorship and content for the new venture, the museum announced today (Feb. 25).

The Science Channel will be the museum's exclusive media sponsor, providing video content and promotional support for exhibits, having a physical presence in the museum and collaborating on joint events in Washington, D.C., where the museum will be located.

"We are delighted by the prospect of working with the Science Channel to help the Museum of Science Fiction fuel a cycle of imagination to reality, and to continue driving interest in our plan to create a new attraction for the Washington area," Greg Viggiano, executive director for the Museum of Science Fiction, said in a statement.

The museum is a planned, standalone nonprofit museum that aims to showcase science fiction in literature, television, film, music, video games and art. The museum aims to open a preview space later this year, and plans to launch the full museum in early 2017. [Science Fact or Fantasy? 20 Imaginary Worlds]

The Science Channel's leaders are equally excited about the partnership. "Sometimes science fiction is the next inspiration for science. Cell phones, tablets and much of the technology we take for granted are works of science fiction that have become science fact," Debbie Myers, the Science Channel’s executive vice president and general manager, said in a statement.

The Museum of Science Fiction and the Science Channel plan to collaborate on several events this year, including "Awesome Con," a conference "that embraces all aspects of geekdom and pop culture," held April 18-20 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

The museum is also working on using Science Channel content to create "interactive and engaging exhibits" in its preview museum.

The full museum will feature seven sci-fi galleries, including: the creators, vehicles, time travel concepts, aliens, computers, robots and technology. Sci-fi collectors have offered to loan materials for the exhibits, including models from the "Star Trek" films and "Battlestar Galactica."

Another aim of the museum is to spark interest is STEAM (science technology engineering art and mathematics) fields, through mobile applications, handheld devices and wifi-enabled displays.

Follow Tanya Lewis on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

Tanya was a staff writer for Live Science from 2013 to 2015, covering a wide array of topics, ranging from neuroscience to robotics to strange/cute animals. She received a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a bachelor of science in biomedical engineering from Brown University. She has previously written for Science News, Wired, The Santa Cruz Sentinel, the radio show Big Picture Science and other places. Tanya has lived on a tropical island, witnessed volcanic eruptions and flown in zero gravity (without losing her lunch!). To find out what her latest project is, you can visit her website.