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Exploring Space

From rockets to satellites, probes to landers, this gallery showcases some out-of-this world objects.

You’ll be able to see a full-sized replica of Eagle—the lander that took astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin to the Moon in 1969. Then discover how we are able to live in space—to breathe, eat, drink and go to the toilet.

Get a unique insight into the history of rockets. Suspended from the ceiling are two real space rockets—a British Black Arrow and a United States Scout.

You can also find out how the space age started in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1 and see a full-size replica of the Huygens module that landed on Titan in 2005 and a model of the Beagle 2 Mars lander.

Return of Soyuz

After a record-breaking national tour, the Soyuz TMA-19M descent module that safely carried astronauts Tim Peake, Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra back from the International Space Station in 2016 is now on permanent display in the Exploring Space gallery. 

See matter older than our planet

Discover a free display, now open in Exploring Space, about the remarkable Hayabusa2 asteroid sample mission.

This is the first time in the UK that you’ll be able to see on public display a 4.6-billion-year-old sample from asteroid Ryugu, collected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), that’s approximately the same age as our solar system.

Visitors can find out about the importance of studying asteroids, and what they tell us about the origins of life on Earth.


Planning a school visit? Find out more information about the gallery for educational groups.