The Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville passed a milestone today, welcoming its 200,000th visitor of the year, its first in operation.

The visitors were Marietta resident Carey Merritt and her children, Margaret Ann and Walker.

“We were joking about it walking up the door that it might be us,” said 9-year-old Walker. “It’s very exciting.”

This was the family’s first visit to Tellus. They had heard plenty of good things about the museum and decided to check it out themselves.

“We had some friends who told us how great it is,” Merritt said. “We figured we would come and see it.”

Tellus was originally projecting 150,000 visitors in its first full year of operation. Earlier this month Tellus’ digital planetarium celebrated 100,000 visitors.

“I am so pleased to get this support from our members and visitors,” said Tellus Executive Director Jose Santamaria. “It has exceeded all our expectations and I hope this means Tellus has something unique to offer to everyone.”

The museum hosts four galleries: Weinman Mineral Gallery, Fossil Gallery, Science in Motion and Collins Family My Big Backyard.

“We have more exciting exhibits, planetarium shows and events coming up next year, so our returning visitors will have many new things to see and do. I would like to thank our local community from all over the Southeast — we could not have done this without you,” Santamaria said. “I hope to continue to earn everyone’s support by keeping Tellus as a place worth coming back to.”