Paul Foulkes observes Ryoji Ikedas audiovisual installation The Universe within the Universe, at Space Explorers: The Infinite immersive experience, which opened at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond on Thursday, Oct. 13. Photo: Salgu Wissmath / The Chronicle

Over the years, Ive posed the same question to different groups of people: If you could fly to the moon at roughly the same cost and level of hassle as traveling to Antarctica today would you?

For me, its a resounding yes. Thats why Im so astonished when so few are as enthused, across a variety of demographics.

Dont you want to see Earth from space? To experience zero gravity? I ask. But most arent persuaded. Some consider it too dangerous; others express no desire to leave Earth.

Space Explorers: The Infinite a new virtual reality experience at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond might change their minds. With more than 250 hours of footage filmed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, its an intimate experience, a chance to sit down for a meal elbow-to-elbow at their table. But its also sweeping, giving you a sense of the scale and scope as you orbit Earth, dazzled by the glittering lights of the cities below and the stars beyond.

I visited the experience with my family on Saturday, Oct. 15. At the orientation, the guide advised us against making abrupt gestures, running, screaming, sitting and walking backwards in the exhibition which made me and my husband a tad worried for our spirited 11-year-old twins, Didi and Gege. (The minimum age allowed to participate is 8 years old; tickets are currently available through the end of November; no end date has been announced yet.)

As with any new technology, there were a few glitches with the headsets, but the abundance of employees standing by helped and soon we had lift-off. We could walk around a virtual rendering of the space station through walls and into space and touch glowing spheres that queued up short clips, fascinating slices of life while astronauts narrated: getting a haircut, running on a treadmill, preparing a camera for a spacewalk and tending to mizuna greens.

I didnt realize that astronauts wore socks in lieu of shoes onboard theyd fit in perfectly in an Asian household, where we drop our footwear at the door! or that they wore polo shirts and slacks that give them the look of extremely fit Best Buy clerks.

The headsets were surprisingly comfortable. Afterward, taking them off, I had slight eye strain akin to staring at a monitor without my reading glasses but the discomfort quickly faded. Close captioning is available, and for those whod prefer not to wear headsets and wander, they can access the footage via tablets.

Since Gege is scared of heights, he was at times uneasy, feeling as though he might fall into the limitless black. He most enjoyed when we first donned the headsets and interacted with each other, marveling at the sight of our hands, a golden outline speckled with stars. He and Didi played rock paper scissors with their virtual hands, and he and I hugged, pressing our golden hearts together.

Although Didi found parts of the experience dark and spooky, he liked the puzzle of finding the spheres and touching them.

In high school, my husband watched documentaries about the 20th anniversary of the moon landing. With dreams of becoming an astronaut, he majored in physics at UC Berkeley. He was as excited as I was to try out this virtual flight. It allows people to experience something very few will ever get to in real life, he said.

In January 2019, astronauts aboard the ISS began filming for the experience with cameras that capture footage on all axes and orientations. They learned how use the cameras, put on their microphones and transfer a low-resolution version of the data back to Earth that NASA would clear before passing along to the filmmakers, Flix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphal.

They and their team answered any astronaut questions about the technology, and also discussed potential scenes on creative calls. Their objective: to capture the experience from an astronauts moment of arrival on the space station to departure six months later.

VR filmmaking pushes the boundaries of storytelling.

The Infinite is spatially designed, with users choosing their own adventure as they move through the exhibition.

You connect the dots yourself. No one explores the same content in the same order, Lajeunesse said.

The SD cards with the master files returned to Earth as cargo, but ran the risk of getting lost or damaged. It was quite stressful, he said. Every time the bag of SD cards arrived, fresh from space, it felt like something sacred.

Another VR show, Carne y Arena, also just opened at the Craneway. Directed by Alejandro G. Irritu, its based on the accounts of Central American and Mexican refugees as they cross the desert, who re-enact their harrowing journeys. Participants join a caravan led by a smuggler and encounter the U.S. Border Patrol.

These VR experiences are part of a growing trend in the Bay Area and beyond. At the de Young Museum, Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs includes a virtual tour of two monuments, Abu Simbel and Nefertaris Tomb.

At SandboxVR with locations in San Mateo, San Francisco, San Ramon, and Emeryville gamers can battle zombies, defend Earth against aliens, battle on the high seas and explore other worlds.

Facebooks parent, Meta, has bet big on VR. But the number of active users on Horizon Worlds virtual spaces accessed through its headsets has fallen far short of the companys goals, according to news reports. Will the VR fad fizzle or take off?

Maybe the answer is in the stars.

Watching astronauts on a spacewalk was awe-inspiring and moving, as I considered how small they were against the universe, and how long theyd trained to get there. Earth below appeared beautiful and serene.

These days, its a perspective we could all use.

Space Explorers: The Infinite: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Wednesday and Friday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday. Through November. $24-$54. Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour Way, Richmond. theinfiniteexperience.com/Richmond

Carne y Arena: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. WednesdayThursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Through Jan. 28, 2023. $30-$45. Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour Way, Richmond. phi.ca/en/carne-y-arena/

Vanessa HuaVanessa Hua is the author, most recently, of "Forbidden City." Her column appears Fridays in Datebook.

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New Bay Area attraction takes you on a VR adventure in space. Heres what its like - SF Chronicle Datebook