Prepare for lift off! 4.56 billion years in the making, the Natural History Museum’s first ever exhibition dedicated to space exploration opens this Friday.
Rooted in the latest scientific research, direct from international space missions,
Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?
is a fun-filled, immersive exhibition. Get up close to over 60 objects on display, from never-before-seen space rocks to the parachute NASA practiced asteroid Bennu’s return to Earth on, smell pods that recreate the scents of space and games and interactives
that tell the story of the all-important ingredients for life.
Our team of scientists work with international space agencies guiding them to make sense of the solar system. Research carried out on asteroids and meteorites in labs here at the Museum recently found that asteroids like Bennu and Ryugu were likely the first
deliverers of water to Earth!
See fragments of asteroid Ryugu which were brought back from space, then journey into Mars to find the model ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover – our scientists have helped build scientific instruments on the rover which will travel to space in 2027 to drill down
deeper into the surface of Mars than ever before.
Lead scientist on the exhibition, Prof Caroline Smith, says, “Space exploration has captured our imagination since humans walked the Earth. From cave art to Buzz Lightyear, the mystery of what lies beyond Earth is too tantalising to ignore – and today
there is more evidence than ever before that life could exist beyond Earth. Informed by the latest findings from space missions and using the data held in our world-leading meteorite collection, we are simply over the moon to share with you what we know so
far about the search for life in space.”
Get up close to the SETI device, part of a network which scours ‘all the sky, all the time’ looking for signals produced by technologically advanced civilisations, see real footage of NASA’s Perseverance rover landing on Mars, learn about ESA’s Juice spacecraft
currently on its way to Jupiter’s moons to investigate habitability, witness a day in the life of Mars and wrap your hands around real meteorites, billions of years old, that have fallen to Earth from space, including a real piece of Mars and the Moon!
Museum Director, Dr Doug Gurr says, “With every mission sent into space we are reminded that here on Earth we have a very precise and complex set of conditions that has led to biodiversity so abundant it’s estimated that we know of less than one quarter
of species in the natural world. We must act now to protect and celebrate life on Earth for a future where people and planet thrive.”
Tickets
are available to book now as well as an accompanying programme of events and activities for all ages. More information can be found
here.
