9/11 Museum Evokes Beauty and Horror [PHOTOS]

The  National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York City is opening May 21. Here's a quick tour and five things you need to know about it.

I don't think I could get through it without shedding a few tears and that's OK. It is actually on my list of things to do this summer.

The museum features artifacts from the Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks attacks, including fragments of the airplanes used to take down the Twin Towers. It is located near the base of One World Trade Center also known as Freedom Tower, which was constructed to replace the former World Trade Center.

September 11 affected everyone differently. I can't come across a documentary on TV without stopping and watching it. From the actual footage of the former World Trade Center towers being hit to wondering what happened to just stuff like this phone and scissors.

Take a complete tour via The New York Post: 9/11 Museum is as Beautiful as is Horrific

Here's five Things You Need To Know About The 9/11 Museum:

1. ITS MISSION

The exhibits tell the stories of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as well as of survivors and first responders. Museum Director Alice Greenwald said the museum is "about understanding our shared humanity," while former mayor Michael Bloomberg called it a reminder "that freedom is not free."

2. MUSEUM'S SIZE

The museum occupies 110,000 square feet on the 16-acre trade center site, tracing the foundations of the twin towers 70 feet underground.

3. CONSTRUCTION AND FOUNDATION

Below the Sept. 11 memorial plaza, with its two fountains outlining the footprints of the towers, the museum reaches down to bedrock, where the towers' steel columns were anchored. It's bounded by a slurry wall that kept back the Hudson River after the attack.

4. COSTS

The plaza and museum together cost $700 million to build, subsidized with $390 million in tax-funded grants; officials hope the $24 museum entrance fee expected to generate about $40 million a year will help cover operating costs, expected to be about $60 million a year. Fundraising will cover the rest, for now.

5. SPECIAL ARTIFACT

Among the more than 10,000 artifacts, 23,000 still images and 500 hours of video and film, plus 1,970 oral histories, one special item is what Patricia Reilly looked for among the displays during an earlier tour for families: her sister's picture ID card from the 101st floor office in the south tower where she died.

If you are planning to visit the new National September 11 Memorial Museum, we would love to see your photos, videos and comments either here on our web site or on our Facebook and Twitter pages under the hashtag #911Museum.