It only seems appropriate that an innovative, creative museum saluting the history of transportation on Long Island be, itself, set on wheels, able to nomadically journey from one destination to the next, making pit stops along its ambitious journey to educate the public on how Long Island has taken to the land, sea, sky and stars.

And so, with the cutting of a big, red ribbon wrapped around a colorfully decorated Winnebago, an educational mission-on-wheels got rolling on the grounds of the blustery, bitter cold LIU C.W. Post campus in Brookville on Wednesday, March 11. The "History in Motion" traveling exhibit was officially opened.

There to be the first ones introduced to the marvels of the mobile museum - which runs as much on imagination as it does gasoline - were students from five schools in Nassau County. In addition to getting a sneak preview of the museum, the students also viewed an inspiring film on Long Island transportation and met, in person, several Island residents who have made contributions to transportation, among them three astronauts.

"We should be proud that Long Island has one of the richest, most distinctive histories of any land," said Howard Schneider, managing editor and vice president for content development for Newsday, which created "History in Motion" as part of its recent campaign to chronicle Long Island history. "Preserve it and pass it on," he continued, addressing the students assembled in the college's Gold Coast Room, to begin the day's festivities.

David Steinberg, president of Long Island University, said, "As a professor of history, I'm thrilled that Long Island University can sponsor this [event]...We wanted to celebrate the opening of the traveling museum by inviting students of the future."

Soon the lights dimmed, and the audience gazed at the projection screen hanging from above, as a fascinating and visually compelling short film introduced the students to the stories behind "History in Motion." Although accounts of how Long Island shaped transportation and, inversely, how transportation shaped the Island, are too vast in number and detail to have portray in one sitting, the film successfully offered glimpses of the many historical, technological and even heroic achievements that took place in the region. And it covered everything from 17th Century colonists' ships to the modern day space shuttle.

Among the film's highlights were the first LIRR track, put into operation in 1834; the Vanderbilt Parkway, which hosted the very first car racing event; America's very first submarine base, in New Suffolk; the famous early-century flights of Lucky Lindy and other accomplished aerialists, at Mitchel Field; and the construction of the F-14, lunar module and Space Shuttle by Bethpage's Grumman factory.

Finally, to put the earth's advancements in transportation technology in perspective - a very "far out" perspective - the film concluded with a breathtaking view of Long Island from space, taken during one of America's sojourns in the stars. Amityville, the hometown of astronaut Kevin R. Kregel, was actually visible in the clip.

And though the film garnered applause from the receptive audience, perhaps the crowd was most pleased when those same astronauts took a "giant leap" off the screen and made themselves personally available for a question and answer session about travel in space.

"Do you think anyone will land on Mars in your lifetime?" asked one student to the trio of Kregel, Oceanside native Michael J. Massimino and Bronx native and Long Island employee Mario Runco, Jr.

"If it doesn't happen, I will feel that I have not fulfilled something that I have hoped to see in my lifetime," said Kregel. "I truly believe that the astronaut who will travel to Mars is alive today." All three astronauts agreed that the timetable on this next major achievement in space travel will depend on the federal government's willingness to increase the budget for the space program.

The spacemen also explained that, over time, NASA's achievements not only have benefited space transportation, but other aspects of life that people may not realize. For example, the computers that were developed originally and explicitly for space missions eventually led to the invention of personal computers.

One-hundred thousand people from across the Island are expected to experience a visit from "History in Motion" as the museum makes its way to schools and community events. While exhibits are limited to the number and size that a mere 34-foot converted Winnebago can handle, the museum nonetheless provides amusement as one tinkers with hands-on equipment from an assortment of cars, boats, planes and trains. There is also a real space helmet that kids are encouraged to try on, and there are a variety of push-button, light-up maps that indicate the growth of transportation on Long Island. The museum is also equipped with several interactive touch-screen monitors with which one can look up subjects pertaining to the history of Long Island.

Also on display, parked across from the museum, was a glossy, vintage Ford Model "A," the same car racers used in the quest for the Vanderbilt Cup.

On hand at the kickoff were Raymond A. Jansen, publisher, president and CEO of Newsday; Mary Wyman, business manager of Newsday's "Long Island: Our Story"; Tom Kelly, who developed Grumman's lunar excursion module (LEM) and helped guide the imperiled crew of Apollo 13 back to earth; Joshua Stoff, air and space curator at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City; Kelly Cassidy, a fourth generation LIRR employee from one single family; and Deborah Cooper Kendrick, descendant of a famous Long Island whaling captain who, in a rescue mission, had sailed to Japan years before Commodore Perry opened the country to America.