The National Space Centre

The National Space Centre is housed on Exploration Drive in the Abbey Meadows area, a mile north of the city centre. It is located in between the A6 and the River Soar.

The National Space Centre is the only visitor attraction solely dedicated to space and space exploration. As well as being a visitor attraction, it also provides an educational facility to local schools. Key attractions within the Space Centre include:

The Visitor Experience: This is an area where visitors can sit down, meet with friends and family or simply just take some time out to enjoy and absorb the space themed atmosphere. This is the place to find out what’s going on at the Space Centre.

Into Space: This area is where to go to find out about every aspect of space exploration, from launching into orbit, exploring Space and finding out what the future holds with Space exploration. As well as this, it looks into the skill and requirements behind the scenes of space travels – factors such as teamwork, hardware and technology. Visitors are able to launch model rockets, build satellites’ and see whether they have the attitude and aptitude to becoming an astronaut – making it one of the most hands-on parts of the Centre.

Exploring the Universe: This area is full of space images and has many physical interactives for visitors to enjoy. The highlight of this area is the magnificent and magical 3D taster of the universe showing key features of the stars.

The Planets: This is where visitors are able to learn and enjoy the planets. This area will go through the history of the planets covering historical, factual and mythical information about the planets.

Orbiting Earth: This area is packed with information and activities about the planet we call home, Earth. It’s a known fact that we use space everyday for every day functions such as weather forecasting, communications, television, navigation, tracking and mapping. This area will delve into this in an inviting and interactive way.

Space Now: This is probably the most high-tech are of the Space Centre and the only area that is permanently staffed. Designed as a news desk, this area provides information and comment about space-related news as it happens. Additionally, it provides an insight into current space developments and research.

Tranquillity Base: This area highlights both long and short term interest in space travel and human space-flight. This includes hot-topics such as putting a man on Mars and establishing the first lunar base on the Moon .This area is packed with interactives with visitors voting it amongst the best at the Centre.

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