The Exploration Museum is dedicated to the history of human exploration and currently has 3 sections about 3 different topics and environments: Vikings and their exploration of the north Atlantic, the Polar explorers of the heroic age, the first astronauts in space and the missions to the Moon. Among other things, in the museum is exhibited a moon rock brought to Earth by the astronauts of the Apollo 17 together with several archive pictures of the training of the NASA astronauts in Iceland in the 60's. Apart from these many other highlights are to be found in the museum, such as replicas of Viking navigation tools and original Viking artifacts, fascinating pictures from the beginning of the XX century taken during expeditions to the Arctic or the Antarctic and great original maps from the past centuries, one for all the map of Iceland by Gerardus Mercator dated 1595.
The Exploration Museum is located in the center of Húsavík in North Iceland, 45 miles (70 kilometers) from the Arctic Circle. The museum was founded in 2011 and formally opened in 2014 by the President of Iceland.