Ellison S Onizuka Space Center

Website has conflicting info… one page says open everyday but closed thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day… but another page says closed on Sunday. Disappointed we won’t be back before it closes for ever but hopefully another Museum will take over much of the history offered.
CLOSED ON SUNDAYS:(

I got trapped at the airport for 9 hours with my 18 month old. I noticed this place and decided to check it out. Unfortunately it was only half an hour before it closed for the day, but he had a wonderful time. It was really geared towards kids with lots of toys and books and stuff. He had a great time, and it was a nice way to kill some time while we were waiting.

Went here for my son’s 4^th grade field trip for Kipapa Elementary School (Oahu). Funny thing is I remember coming here for the same field trip when I was a 4^th grader at Kipapa. Always an enjoyable learning experience here! So many things too see and learn about. The woman who does the guides for the children was also a teacher and is great with the children! The gift shop has many cool things as well!

If you are planning to drive more than 30 minutes to check this Space Center, I would definitely NOT recommend this place. However, if you arrive early at the airport and you have some time to kill, this is a GREAT place to spend 45 minutes-​1 hour.
Some of the activities and stations are not properly working, but there is a plethora of activities for kids and adults to try. Very interesting facts about space and Ellison Onizuka.
Bill Tips: Admission is $ 3 for adults and $ 1 for children 12 and under. The admission is as good as it gets when it comes to entertainment for an hour or so.

What do you do when you have to wait 4 hours outside the airport for your family members to arrive in Kona? Go to the space museum of course! Lots of activities and displays for such a small space, plus it’s nicely air conditioned and they’ll let you set your luggage down.
Learned quite a bit about Hawaii’s contribution to space programs, and of course about Mr. Onizuka.

Just in case you are bored at the Kona International Airport whether you are waiting for someone to pick you up or just killing time, you should visit this cool museum dedicated to Astronaut legend Ellison Onizuka. I myself am not really into space or intergalatic stuff or anything but this is a nice museum to go to. It is also very educational and if you have kids, they will most definitely go nuts with all of the cool interactive things that they have presented in the museum. The admission is $ 3 which is not bad and I would say worth it for what you can learn, play, and see. Other than checking out the museum and gadgets, there is the option of watching a small kine documentary about Ellison Onizuka who was astronaut from Hawaii and did these really cool things during his career and time in space. They have a nice little small kine theatre which you watch the video. When checking out the museum, it’s going to make you feel like you are in your elementary school days taking a field trip. There are a lot of space related activities that are really interactive like a working with space gloves, playing with marbles, experimenting with magnets, sitting in a mock space shuttle, launching a mock space shuttle in the air, and just many more cool things. Other than the hands-​on stuff, there are surrounding exhibits and information about how Hawaii is related to space or vice versa, Hawaii’s role in space kinda thing. Near the entrance, there is a little gift shop where you can buy space-​related stuff and even space food :)

I wish there were more places like this next to airports. My sons ages 3 – 16 loved this little museum. It makes waiting for your plane more bearable. The only downside is that we were having so much fun in this place that we almost missed our plane since the TSA line was ridiculously long in the hot sun.

The kids and I had an excellent time exploring in this interactive, hands on experience. Both fun and educational. Perfect way to spend a day out of the sun. Don’t leave without trying the astronaut ice cream located in the gift shop area. Overall, our trip here was a 5!

This is really a stop for kids, lots of experiments & demonstrations for them to play with. We were two adults attending, so we probably didn’t enjoy the museum as much since its designed for kids. There were only a handful of us in the museum the day we visited, the staff didn’t bother getting up to turn on the video or activities. Bit disappointing, but we didn’t ask them to turn anything on either. The admission is minimal ($ 3). Not worth going out of your way to see, but if you have time to kill at the airport this could fill a half hour.

So this isn’t Kennedy Space Center, and you shouldn’t drive 50 miles just for this, BUT, if you have a few extra minutes at Kona airport, it’s a great exhibit of space shuttle memorabilia and lots of fun science and astronomy activities for kids. A great way to spend a few minutes of down time before a flight.

The Space Shuttle Challenger accident in 1986 hit home and left the Kona community and all of Hawaii mourning the loss of a homegrown hero, astronaut, Ellison Onizuka. The Onizuka Space Center, opened at the airport in 1991, bears tribute to his legacy.
Here, I learned that astronauts trained on Mauna Loa…
The museum is air conditioned and jam-​packed full of activities for kids and adults. Ellison Onizuka’s family runs this special place. We spent hours in here.
Their theatre features a video taken from space. Get a glimpse of astronauts brushing their teeth, taking a shower, using dry shampoo. I thought this was a fun way for kids to learn about gravity and space’s lack of.
Launch a rocket 10 feet up, launch a pog, play with a gyrosphere, buy cool education toys in the gift shop.
Also in the gift shop: astronaut food for *your* flight. We bought the ice cream sandwich –only $ 2.50, and it does not melt.
Open daily 8:30 — 4:30 except Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Years Day.