page_title: Pacific Science Center
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Pacific Science Center / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Long Ford E-series van for Pacific Science Center school visits.
context_page_description: Pacific Science Center is an independent, non-profit science center in Seattle, Washington with a mission to ignite curiosity and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking. Pacific Science Center serves more than 1 million people each year at its campus adjacent to Seattle Center, at the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center in Bellevue, Washington, and in communities and classrooms across the state of Washington.
context_section_description: The center's original buildings were the United States Science Pavilion designed by Minoru Yamasaki for the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. Eventually becoming Pacific Science Center, the World of Science, along with the Worlds of Art, Entertainment, Commerce and Industry, and Tomorrow were the five main theme areas that were intended for the masses at the World's Fair. Located at the southernmost end of the fairgrounds and west of the Space Needle, the World of Science was located under the arches, an easily identifiable landmark.
  The fountains located at the entrance of the center appeared in the movie It Happened at the World's Fair with Elvis Presley. After the World's Fair closed, the U.S. Science Pavilion was re-opened as Pacific Science Center. The land and buildings were leased for $1.00 a year until 2004 when the title deed was signed over and the Pacific Science Center Foundation officially took ownership.
caption: A Science Center van
exif: {"Image Make": "Hewlett-Packard", "Image Model": "HP PhotoSmart C945 (V01.61)+", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2006:07:08 11:11:38", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "456", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5486", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "13299", "EXIF ExposureTime": "161/50000", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF OECF": "[0, 2, 0, 129, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 8, 0, 0, 0, 16, 0, 0, 0, 24, 0, 0, ... ]", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:07:08 11:11:38", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:07:08 11:11:38", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "48515049", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "2119/256", "EXIF ApertureValue": "793/256", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "191/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "14/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "D55", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "266/25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0010", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1296", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "976", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[0, 0, 0, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4738", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "111/4000000", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "111/4000000", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF SensingMethod": "Not defined", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "52", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF DeviceSettingDescription": "[0, 1, 0, 15, 32, 32, 32, 48, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 55, 65, 48, 32, 32, 32, 52, ... ]", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "2"}