From a trip to Starbase to library display cases
Saanvi Phaneendra has visited Starbase, Texas twice. On her first trip, she heard the sonic boom from one of the earliest Starship test flights, and that was the moment she first thought about starting Galactic Getaway. She wanted to bring that feeling to people who may never get to see a rocket in person.
Read the story in Saanvi’s own words →
An Eagle Scout project
Saanvi built Galactic Getaway’s first rocket display boxes as her Eagle Scout project with BSA Troop 2942, coordinating 18 Scouts and more than 225 hours of work. In 2024 she turned the project into a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit.
Rockets where people already gather
Galactic Getaway places museum-quality 1:144 scale models of rockets like Starship, SLS, Falcon Heavy and New Glenn inside public library display cases, free for everyone who walks by. Saanvi’s first plan was to donate a rocket set to each library, but convincing libraries to host an exhibit turned out to be hard, and the first few took a lot of persistence. Today libraries reach out with requests, and the exhibits rotate every few weeks across four Bay Area counties.
Bringing the rockets home
Over the last 18 to 24 months, Saanvi has sourced the museum-quality models from Russia, building up multiple rocket sets. It was not simple: last year she had to work through international postal bans and a shipment that got stuck along the way.
Festivals, fairs and hands-on fun
Beyond libraries, Saanvi brings the rockets to community festivals and STEM events. At the Moraga Pear Festival, kids, teens and adults kept crowding around the booth. Kids are often startled when they first see the rockets, and adults usually ask whether she built them herself.
Workshops, webinars and talks for young explorers
Saanvi leads hands-on rocket workshops in libraries, where students learn how rockets fly, what engines and fuel do, and where next-gen rockets are headed. She gives inspiration talks for elementary school kids, like her “Blast Off to Space” session at Dublin Library, and she hosts webinars, including a virtual Global Aviation and Aerospace Forum in October 2026 with aerospace engineers and researchers.
Supported and encouraged by Stanford Aero/Astro
Galactic Getaway’s rocket exhibit has been displayed at Stanford, and the program is supported and encouraged by Stanford Aeronautics & Astronautics. Saanvi also studies how visitors engage with aerospace exhibits, including a study using AI smart glasses.
Space science beyond the exhibits
Saanvi also does her own research at the intersection of AI and spaceflight, including an AI model for detecting cardiac arrhythmias in astronauts, which she presented at UCLA.
Now exhibiting at Fremont Main Library
Galactic Getaway has now reached more than 60,000 people at 18+ libraries and community spaces, including Fremont Main Library, Milpitas Library, Cupertino Library and Stanford. The international rocket collection is on display in Fremont through October 2026.
