A new exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is a dream for space exploration fans. The new “Moving Beyond Earth” exhibit features a 12-foot tall space shuttle model, parts of the Hubble Space Telescope and a model of the Ares launch vehicle. The exhibit also features new LED lights, which are replacing the 30-year-old mercury vapor work lights.
 
Cree LR24 recessed LED luminaires have been installed in the exhibit hall, which has 20-foot high ceilings and 5,000 square feet of space. The Cree LED lights replace high intensity discharge work lights, offering the high lumen output and efficacy required to work in the gallery.
 
They light up the gallery for about eight hours each day so museum staff can clean the gallery and take care of other maintenance when the exhibit isn’t open.
 
Stable temperature and humidity levels are required to protect the significant number of historical artifacts featured in the exhibit. The Cree LED lights deliver uniform and bright light and weigh less than other fixtures, helping to reduce strain on the high ceilings.
 
Facts about the Installation:

• Replacing the antiquated mercury vapor work lights with Cree LR24s can reduce maintenance costs and save energy.
• The LR24s are designed to produce little heat, saving on air conditioning needs and related costs, and emit virtually no ultraviolet rays, which can help protect the priceless objects featured in the exhibit.
• The LR24 LED lights are designed to last 50,000 hours, they could last 17 years if the lights are on eight hours a day, seven days a week.

Photo by Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution