To herald the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit, the Boston Museum of Science unveiled the Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter, a full-scale prop featured in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. The stunning silver-and-yellow starship will be on display at the museum until the exhibit premieres at the museum in October 2005, approximately five months after the May release of Star Wars: Episode III -- the final chapter of the Star Wars saga.

Following its world premiere at the Museum of Science, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination will travel nationwide for approximately three years to member institutions of the Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative (SMEC), a consortium of seven U.S. science centers.

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination will use the six films in the Star Wars saga as a gateway to examining real-world technologies and understanding the important role of technology in our future. The exhibit will include artwork, props, models, film clips and documentary footage from the Star Wars films, combined with hands-on science and technology components, discussion forums, and interactive engineering and computer technologies, to engage both children and adults.

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination will highlight numerous parallels between technologies in the Star Wars films and real-world technology. Visitors will be able to glimpse the future by exploring amazing prototypes in progress and learning about the engineers and designers who are creating new technologies. In addition, they'll witness first-hand intriguing similarities between how scientists and filmmakers think.

"While exploring the concept of the exhibit, we received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from people across a wide range of demographics," said Larry Bell, the Museum of Science's Senior Vice President for Research, Development and Production. "Star Wars is multigenerational and so many aspects of the story have become part of our culture. This provides a rare opportunity for a common starting point among visitors to learn about technology and engineering."

"Lucasfilm is pleased to be part of this unique exhibition, with its emphasis on the importance of imagination in developing future technologies," said Howard Roffman, Vice President of Lucasfilm. "The exhibition and tour are specifically designed to guide children in their roles as tomorrows engineers and scientists."

In the next few months, the Museum of Science Exhibition Team will develop prototypes for Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination and invite a variety of audiences to give feedback -- with the goal of making the exhibit accessible to everyone. More on prototyping and the dates and times when the general public can prototype will be available on the website here.

Public viewing of the full-size Naboo Royal N-1 Starfighter is included with regular Exhibit Hall Admission. Tickets for the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibition will go on sale in June 2005.