All aboard! The RMS Titanic has finally reached New York City.
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, at the new Discovery Times Square museum, brings the ultimate Titanic experience. So even if you forgot to buy your ticket for the main voyage, now is your chance. The exhibit takes visitors through a series of room recreations from the Titanic, and displays real artifacts that were recovered from the shipâÂÂs original site in the ocean.
The RMS Titanic was a British ship making its first voyage to America. It first sailed on April 10, 1912, departing from Southampton, England. But something came in between that kept the nearly 883-foot ship from arriving at its New York City destination. On April 14, at 11:40 p.m., the ship hit an iceberg. It sank 3 hours later, dropping 3,925 meters into the Atlantic Ocean,where is still lies today. The Titanic was carrying 2,228 people on board, including the crew members. Only 705 passengers survived. They were picked up by a ship called Carpathia the next morning. Many of the passengers who died lost their lives from hypothermia rather than drowning.
It takes researchers two hours to get to and from the Titanic site on the ocean floor. Archaeologists predict that 90 years from now, the Titanic will completely vanish because of all the microbes that have been eating away at it since it sunk.
 The Titanic exhibition features such items as a stack of plates that were retrieved from the ocean floor, just as they were dropped from the Titanic, along with stamps used on letters, a rubber boot, jewels, a leather artist portfolio, currency from different countries, and a 14 karat gold coin purse. The museum also features an iceberg recreation that is cold to the touch; it gives visitors a sense of how cold the water was on the night of the accident. Other elements that draw attention are the recreation of the first-class hallway and even the shipâÂÂs amazing grand staircase.
           A ticket to the Titanic would have cost $69,600 in todayâÂÂs dollars for a first-class ticket, but now it costs only $25 to get the ultimate experience. The ticket that visitors receive allows them to role-play being a passenger boarding the Titanic on April 10, 1912. On the back is a brief history about âÂÂyourselfâ explaining why that passenger was going to the United States, what part of the United States they were going to, and who that person was traveling with. It also indicates that passengerâÂÂs class, and what port he or she sailed from.
      Although the Titanic took 97 years to finally reach New York, it has arrived. But hurry â she will be leaving port on February 20, 2010.     Â
  Â
TheTitanic Artifact exhibition is at Discovery! Times Square, 226 W. 44thStreet between 7th and 8th Avenue. Adults $24.50, seniors 65+ $22.50, Children 4-12 years old $17.50, Children under 4 years old are free.