Titanic exhibit docking at Science Museum of Minnesota

St. Paul, Minn. — A major exhibit of artifacts from the sunken liner S.S. Titanic will open at the Science Museum in St. Paul next summer. The show is an expanded version of the exhibition at the St. Paul Depot in 1999, including dozens of articles recovered from the wreck in the years since.

Science Museum Senior Vice President Mike Day said the Titanic artifacts allow a tangible connection to a real life drama.

A first-class cabin aboard the Titanic

"It's more than just an epic story of steam and steel, it's that this is an incredible compelling human drama," Day said. "The stories of the people who built the ship, the crew members and of course the passengers, are really what makes this an enduring story."

The show will run through the end of the year. It will allow visitors to experience what life was like on board the supposedly unsinkable vessel. It will also include a simulated iceberg which will allow visitors to test their capacity to withstand touching a frozen surface.

The show will include recreations of living quarters for first class and steerage passengers.

Vials of perfume recovered from an expedition

"There was a first. class passenger on the Titanic, who was a salesman and he was carrying in a leather case, 62 sample size perfume vials that were recovered in an expedition to the ship in 2000," Day said. "They will be part of our exhibit and you can still smell the perfume."

The Titanic show will open in June 2009 and run through the end of the year.