You’ll soon have an opportunity to see pieces of the final frontier up close and personal as an unprecedented Star Trek exhibit begins to tour the country. And if that’s not enough, a certain Starfleet officer is coming along for the ride.

On Friday, January 18th, a 50,000 square foot interactive Trek tribute will open at the Queen Mary Dome in Long Beach, California. The exhibit runs through February 17th and then takes off for a five-year mission to forty cities around the country. Destinations include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C.

Star Trek The Tour will feature sets, costumes, props, models, and much, much more from all five Trek series and 10 feature films. Highlights include multiple full-motion simulators, a 360 degree theater that puts visitors in the middle of Trek action, a tribute to creator Gene Roddenberry, and reproductions of the bridge and other sets from the Next Generation. In addition, visitors will have the opportunity to have their image superimposed in a picture of the original cast or to be digitally inserted into an episode.

Several veterans of the Trek phenomenon helped to put the exhibit together including production designer Herman Zimmerman, costume designer Robert Blackman, make-up supervisor Michael Westmore and visual effects producer Dan Curry. In addition, Roddenberry’s son, Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, supplies narration for the exhibit.

William Shatner, Captain Kirk himself, is the official ambassador of the exhibit and will be making appearances at various times throughout the tour’s multi-city run. Unfortunately, there’s no schedule of his visits thus far but it’s likely that local venues will let you know if he’s coming to your area. Of the exhibit, Shatner said, “This will truly be an impressive experience for the whole family and I am happy to be associated with it.”

Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster and you can learn more by visiting StarTrekTheTour.com. Stay tuned!