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Top 5 things to see at the Science Museum if you love space

Follow this space trail and go on a journey of exploration and discovery around the Science Museum this summer.

Stop 1: Tim Peake’s Spacecraft

Soyuz TMA-19M descent module in the Exploring Space gallery.

The first stop on our space tour is the Exploring Space gallery. After a mind-boggling national tour, attracting 1.3 million visitors, Tim Peake’s Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft is now on permanent display in our Exploring Space gallery.

It is the actual spacecraft that took astronauts Yuri Malenchenko, Tim Kopra, and Tim Peake up to the International Space Station in 2015 and then returned them safely to the Earth the following year. If you look closely you can see the scorch marks left from their re-entry to Earth’s atmosphere.

Stop 2: A (real) piece of the Moon

A piece of the Moon.

Next up in Exploring Space is a real piece of Moon rock cut from the ‘Great Scott’ rock that Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott picked up from the Moon’s surface in August 1971. He almost fell over when trying to pick it up and had to roll it up the leg of his spacesuit to get a good grip on it.

Stop 3: Apollo 10 command module

Apollo 10 command module.

If you head on to our Making the Modern World gallery you will find the Apollo 10 command module. In May 1969, this module launched astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan, on a lunar orbital mission as a dress rehearsal for the Apollo 11 landing in July 1969.

If you head to the gallery over the summer you will see the original control panel and a series of NASA mission patches on display with the module.

Stop 4: BepiColombo

When you reach the Wellcome Wing you will come face-to-face with a full-size engineering model of BepiColombo, the European Space Agency’s first-ever spacecraft to explore Mercury.
Standing at over six metres tall, this Structural Thermal Model (STM) of the spacecraft was used to test BepiColombo’s resilience during its seven-year journey to Mercury—one of the most challenging planetary missions ever launched.

Stop 5: Make a Mars rover in Engineer Your Future

If you head up to Engineer Your Future you will find our Rugged Rovers game. This game challenges you to design your very own Mars rover and pits you against your friends and family to see who can travel the furthest across the alien landscape full of jumps, boulders, and slopes. You can also download the Rugged Rovers app for free from the App Store or Google Play to play at home.

Bonus stops 

Whilst you’re in the Wellcome Wing of the museum you will see the entrance to our IMAX 3D Cinema. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing we are showing Apollo 11: First Steps Edition (U).

This 48-minute documentary offers a thrilling cinematic experience that uses never-before-seen 70mm footage and a trove of newly discovered audio recordings from NASA’s vaults, to showcase the incredible real-life moments of the 1969 Moon landing.

Saturn V rocket launch
Saturn V rocket launch © Courtesy of Statement Pictures for CNN

Throughout the summer we will also have interactive workshops and live science shows happening in different spots around the museum. Build your own map of the Moon in our Over the Moon workshop, help us launch a rocket in our Fly me to the Moon science show or make your very own rocket mouse in our Moon Mice workshop.

Where to eat

Finally stop off for some well-deserved lunch at The Diner and feast on an extensive menu of burgers, salads, and desserts whilst looking out over BepiColombo.

Try at home

Try one of our at-home learning resources to discover how materials behave in space and how atmospheric pressure is relevant to our everyday lives.

Set your summer free at the Science Museum this July and August and explore our inspiring new season of free exhibitions, events and workshops with the whole family.

Free WiFi is available throughout the museum.