In 1997, James Cameron’s “Titanic” captivated the hearts and minds of the world, winning 11 Academy Awards and quickly becoming the highest box office take in movie history. The movie catapulted the 1912 maritime disaster from one primarily confined to history books into one that sparked countless television documentaries, IMAX presentations, books, and exhibits.

One of the most renowned and respected such exhibits, “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” has been on display at major museums and science centers across the globe, drawing more than 15 million people.

On May 20, the exhibit made its grand opening at the year-old Science Center of Iowa, 401 West Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Des Moines.

Upon entering the exhibit, visitors are given a ticket, made to look like the boarding pass of a Titanic passenger nearly a century ago. The pass is incredibly detailed and personal, displaying the information of real passengers of the fateful maiden voyage of the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic.

One such ticket belongs to Edwina (“Winnie”) Troutt, a second-class passenger on the voyage from Southampton to New York. At the time of her boarding she was 27 years old and traveling alone.

“It [the exhibition] is very personal. It really touches a wide variety of people.” said Candice Papke, communications coordinator at the Science Center. She said the exhibition has attracted visitors of all age demographics, young, old, professionals, and families.

The exhibition tells the tale of the Titanic from construction to destruction, using artifacts lent to the Science Center by R.M.S. Titanic, the company owning the rights to all artifacts retrieved from the Titanic. Although much of a visitors journey through the exhibition is historical, the Science Center incorporates lots of ‘hands on’ opportunities throughout the tour.

Accompanying the exhibition is “Titanica,” a feature IMAX presentation that follows a crew deep into the ocean on a quest to excavate the Titanic.

“Titanica really incorporates the exhibition and the collection of artifacts,” Papke said. The film gives participants a look at how the artifacts in the exhibit were originally excavated, and although it enhances the exhibit experience, Papke said viewing the film isn’t essential to seeing and feeling the life behind the exhibit.

As visitors walk through the exhibit, they are able to read the stories of Titanic survivors not told in the major motion picture. One is the story of a 12-year-old girl named Ruth, who after surviving the sinking of the ship was able to reunite with her family.

“See that? She was reunited with her family afterwards,” a mother told her young daughter as they made their way through the exhibit.

Although the extent of the Titanic tragedy may be harder to grasp for a younger audience, as the exhibit progresses and its presentation turns from one of splendor to one of blight – the temperature gets noticably colder.

After viewing the quarters of the rich and the poor and eyeing clothing and artifacts found in the debris of the sinking ship, you turn a corner to find yourself faced with an authentic iceberg. You are reminded that most of the 1,523 casualties of the Titanic died of hypothermia in freezing water, 32 degrees the night of the wreck.

The iceberg on display is 28 degrees Fahrenheit and imprinted with the handprints of other visitors who tried to see how long they could keep their hand on the frozen surface. A sign nearby reads that most who were in the water died within 20 minutes.

“There are so many things that I found out that I didn’t know. I had to bone up on my Titanic facts,” Papke said while talking about the different things this exhibit has to offer.

“The Titanic is deteriorating quite rapidly.” Papke said as we came to the replica near the end of the exhibit of the ship as it was two years ago, deep in the ocean.

The exhibit detailed every bit of information from those who built the beautiful masterpiece, to the richest passengers, the crew, and even those who were surrounded by heat, shoveling tons and tons of coal to keep the engines running.

Beyond the souvenir ticket, for those who are looking to take a piece of the ship home, small pieces of coal in the form of jewelry and other artwork are being sold in the gift shop at the Science Center.

Papke encouraged people to take home a piece of the famous ship, and of history, “There is so much of it [coal], it is about the only thing that R.M.S. is selling from the ship.”

The exhibition will run until August 20th at the Science Center in downtown Des Moines.

A man named Patrick Hazard once said that “History in our kind of society is not a luxury, but a necessity.”

At 11:40 p.m. on Sunday April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and sank, killing an approximate 1,523 people, according to the US Senate investigation.

Since 1991, more than 15 million people have seen the Titanic Exhibitions in major cities across the globe.