Good news, D.C. museumheads: The National Geographic Museum is reopening on Feb. 16 after being closed for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And for the month of February, the museum will be offering free admission to any guests who register for timed passes in advance.

The museum in downtown D.C. will reopen with two new exhibits and a renovated museum store. One exhibit, Once Upon A Climb: Stories of Everest takes visitors to the highest peak on earth through the first-person stories of climbers, mapmakers, and scientists. The other, The Greatest Wildlife Photographs, showcases behind-the-scenes footage and interviews about 60 of National Geographic’s most impressive wildlife images. The permanent exhibit, Exploration Starts Here, remains in place.

Timed entry passes are available every 15 minutes when the museum is open, Wednesdays through Sundays. And so far, they appear to be going fast. General admission to the museum is normally $15.

“To say we’ve missed our visitors would be an understatement,” said Kathryn Keane, vice president of the National Geographic Society’s public programming, in a statement. The society is the global non-profit that runs the museum out of its headquarters.

The museum partnered with tech company Spatial Inc. to design realistic soundscapes for the Mount Everest exhibit and make visitors feel like they’re physically at the mountain — dodging a helicopter overhead or hearing a climber’s heavy breath right next to them as they reach to high altitudes. Teachers might want to make use of NatGeo’s Everest StoryMap, which accompanies the exhibit and details the geography of the Himalayas, allowing participants to join a team at Everest’s base camp.

The photography exhibit displays over a century’s worth of photos from National Geographic’s magazine, diving into how the technology involved in capturing wildlife images has shifted over time. Visitors will learn about George Shiras (aka “Grandfather Flash”), who captured the first nighttime wildlife shot of a white-tailed deer in 1900; or how modern photographers use drones, camera traps, and infrared sensors to take close-ups of animals in their habitats.

As for health and safety protocols, the museum has added sanitizer dispensers throughout the exhibits and new air-filtration systems. Guests over the age of 2 must wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status.

National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th Street NW; open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Timed tickets available online.