— When the Mollett Early Spaceflight Gallery opens to the public in the spring of 2005, visitors to the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center will have a rare chance to view spacecraft and spacesuits that began the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Cosmosphere, located in Hutchinson, Kansas, today announced that $750,000 in private donations had allowed construction to begin on the new gallery. Two-thirds of the needed funds were gifted by local residents Clarence and Mary Jane Mollett, for whom the new gallery is named.

The Molletts also arranged a $1.5 million deferred gift to the Cosmosphere's Foundation. The combined donation of $2 million represents one of the largest gifts in the history of the museum.

"As long-time supporters of the museum, Mary Jane and I have never been more impressed with all the activity and future plans for the Cosmosphere," Clarence Mollett said.

The 4,000 square foot (370 square meter) gallery will bring some of the Cosmosphere's most notable artifacts to the museum floor. It will include historical archives from both the U.S. and Soviet programs, including spacesuits used during the Mercury and Gemini, and Vostok and Voskhod missions.

The gallery will feature the flown Gemini X spacecraft, a flown Russian Vostok, a full-size engineering model of the Voskhod, and will ultimately be the home of Virgil "Gus" Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft after the completion of its national tour in 2005.

"When Liberty Bell 7 returns, the Cosmosphere will be one of only three locations in the world to have flown Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft," Jeff Ollenburger, president and CEO, said.

"From an exhibition standpoint, this is an important project for us that in many ways will be the anchor gallery for the entire museum. By focusing on the incredible early days of human space exploration, we can see the starting point for everything that is happening in space today."

Fundraising for the Early Spaceflight Gallery will continue through the completion of the project in spring 2005, and a list of all donors giving $1,000 or more will be permanently displayed at the gallery's entrance.

To date, corporate contributions have also been made by American Packaging, TSW Products, First National Bank, Fee Insurance, Kwik Shop, Inc. and the Pipeline Testing Consortium, all of Hutchinson, and the Cessna Foundation in Wichita.

"A project of this size takes a tremendous amount of support and we are very pleased that so many of our long-time friends and supporters of the Cosmosphere from both Hutchinson and the surrounding area have helped make this project a reality," Ollenburger said.