Sit in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon Interactive Experience, perhaps in a front seat usually reserved for Han Solo or Chewbacca, and you won't be thrown into a deep space dogfight with Imperial TIE fighters.

Instead of fantastic battle, fact-based exploration is the theme.

Anthony Daniels — voice of C-3PO across six "Star Wars" movies — narrates a short film in which the Millennium Falcon summons light speed to zoom far, far beyond the ongoing journey of Voyagers 1 and 2 to a place where 220,000 galaxies dominate the view and bewilder the mind.

The Millennium Falcon Interactive Experience sets an educational tone for "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination," an exhibition opening this weekend at the Indiana State Museum. More than a roadshow of costumes, props, models and robots from the "Star Wars" movies, the exhibition compares futuristic sci-fi technology to today's real-life breakthroughs in transportation, robotics and medicine.

With Yoda, R2-D2 and Darth Vader on board as tutors, the museum makes a strong case that learning can be fun. "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" is structured on primary themes "Getting Around" and "Robots and People," with "Adapting to the Environment" and "Robotics and Medicine" serving as secondary themes.

It's the largest exhibition in State Museum history. The main show is on the building's third floor, while the Millennium Falcon Interactive Experience is a separate first-floor attraction (with $5 admission that's not part of $19.50 to check out the main show and the rest of the museum).

Open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, "Science Meets Imagination" has the look of a summer blockbuster.

The museum expects attendance figures in the range of past shows "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" (more than 100,000 visitors in 2011 and 2012) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Exhibition" (more than 200,000 visitors in 2006 and 2007).

"We're warning people: 'Don't think you can simply show up on weekends and get a ticket,' " Traci Cromwell, the museum's director of collections, told The Indianapolis Star (http://indy.st/162KUja ). "It's a timed ticket, and it may sell out."

Cromwell said traveling exhibitions, such as "Star Wars," ''Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings," attract an audience that otherwise might not visit the museum in White River State Park.

"Part of our mission statement is to bring the world to Indiana," she said.

The exhibition's 20-venue tour began in Boston in 2005. The final stop: The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif., beginning in October.

Although tangible Hoosier connections to "Science Meets Imagination" are scarce, former Carmel resident Jake Lloyd portrayed young Anakin Skywalker in the 1999 film "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace."

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by The Indianapolis Star.