Why not take advantage of the summer to explore space? There are many discoveries and sensations that can be experienced without ever having to leave our planet.
Space too expensive? This is certainly the impression that inevitably comes to mind when we think about the 35 million dollars that are needed to fly to the International Space Station as a “tourist” (the official, more prestigious term is “spaceflight participant”). As for the suborbital trips above altitudes of 100 km promised by the billionaire Richard Branson and his company Virgin Galactic, would-be passengers will nevertheless have to be reasonably well-off as they will cost 200,000 dollars. Fortunately, there are other ways of combining holidays and space at much more reasonable prices. Some are even free! We cannot, obviously produce a comprehensive list here, but we do hope above all to give you some ideas and would ask our readers to tell us about their space holiday experiences through our contact section.
Free: the Station in the night sky
The International Space Station orbits the Earth and its structures (solar array and modules) reflect the light from the Sun back to “terra firma”. The ISS then looks like an incredibly shiny star (often the brightest) which crosses the night canopy of heaven in several minutes. This is a unique, spectacular and free way of directly experiencing the human space flight saga (see this article for example). Orbital subtleties are such that the Station is not visible every evening, but websites can provide dates and times of when it will go by depending on your observation location. Heavens-Above (in English) Heavens-Above explained in French on Guillaume Cannat’s website “La Lettre du Guide du Ciel” (indicates favourable passes) “Liste Alphonse” (in French and in English)
Museums and parks: North America
The Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, the federal capital of the United States, is no more and no less than the world’s biggest aerospace museum. As regards space, the list of historic objects on offer is enough to make your head spin with, for example, the Apollo 11 capsule, the space shuttle Enterprise (atmospheric demonstrator), the SpaceShipOne, a European space laboratory, Spacelab, etc. Entry is free, but, take note, the second building known as the Udvar-Hazy Center is in the suburbs next to Dulles airport. The car park is not free ($15), neither is the public transport should you use it to get there. Air and Space Museum
In Florida, the Kennedy Space Center, historic site (Apollo, space shuttles, etc.), has since many years a Visitor Complex which the public can visit. There are several exhibitions in addition to a superb space discovery offer based on bus trips to certain of NASA’s facilities. Make sure that you do not miss out on the Apollo/Saturn V Center (which can be visited via one of these bus trips) dedicated to American lunar missions with its main attraction of a full-size Saturn V rocket! Entry costs 40.28 dollars (adult — second day included if used in the week following the first visit). Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Close to the Johnson Space Center in Texas, you can find Space Center Houston which is a combination of a theme park and a museum with several wonderful historic exhibits (the Apollo 17 capsule and Gordon Cooper’s Mercury capsule for example). There is an organised tram journey from NASA’s Johnson Space Center as well as a 5 hour visit known as “Level 9” of the main facilities (this last option costs $85). Adult entry fee: $19.95. Space Center Houston
With the Redstone Arsenal and the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville in Alabama has been greatly developed during the space race. Its US Space & Rocket Center is home to the first Space Camp (astronaut training courses for teenagers and adults) as well as a museum dedicated to astronautic discoveries. Also worthy of note is the recent Davidson Center which shelters a Saturn V lunar rocket vehicle. Adult entry fees start at $24.95. US Space & Rocket Center
The Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas is little known outside of the United States even though its museum section (it also includes a Space Camp) is more than adequate with a full-size replica of a space shuttle and other prestigious historic exhibits such as the Apollo 13 capsule. Cosmosphere
In Laval (not far from Montréal), Canada, the Cosmodome has continued the idea of the previously mentioned Space Camp under licence and developed its own museum called the “Centre des Sciences de l’Espace” (Space Science Centre). Adult entry fee: 11.50 Canadian dollars. Cosmodome
Museums and parks: Europe
In Guiana, the CSG (Guiana Space Centre) is often known to the general public by the name of Kourou, the nearest town (we would note that the Soyuz launch pad nearing completion is actually in the commune of Sinnamary). Situated next to the Jupiter Control Centre, the “Musée de l’Espace” (Space Museum) is your way in to explore Europe’s space port. Adult entry fee: 7 €. “Musée de l’espace” CNES Mag - Destination French Guiana (as of page 38)
Within metropolitan France, the CST or Toulouse Space Centre is the operational and technical centre of the CNES (French National Space Study Centre). The “pink city” is also home to the “Cité de l’espace*” (Space City), a space theme park which offers numerous activities and exhibitions, combining education and fun, aimed at a family audience. We would also note a Mir space station (above video) and an Ariane 5 launch rocket, both full-size, as well as the possibility of experiencing several space sensations (see the end of this article). Adult entry fee: €22 in high season. “La Cité de l’espace”
Continuing in France, but taking a more northerly route to Saint-Omer in the French department of “Nord-Pas-de-Calais”. “La Coupole” is a museum set up in a gigantic bunker built by the Nazis to house the construction of their evil V2 missiles. The space section of “La Coupole” has its own unique way of highlighting the war-type origins of astronautic technologies and the resulting space adventure. Adult entry fee: €9. “La Coupole”
Still in France, adjacent to the French capital, the “Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace” (Air and Space Museum) in Le Bourget has an exhibition hall dedicated to astronautics which covers the entire history of Man’s flight to the stars. Its main attraction: the Soyuz capsule which brought Jean-Loup Chrétien, the first Frenchman to go into space, back to Earth. Entry is free but there are charges for certain of the activities and guided tours. “Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace”
The Euro Space Center, in Transinne, Belgium, is basically a Space Camp which continues the American concept under licence. Its museum/exhibition section is given over to space with the emphasis on human space flights and Europe. It is also possible to see a full-size model of an American space shuttle. Adult entry fee: €11. Euro Space Center
In the Netherlands, the Space Expo stands next to the ESTEC Technical Centre belonging to the ESA, European Space Agency, not far from Noordwijk. It enables the general public to understand space exploration issues. Europe’s role is obviously brought to the fore, but we would highlight the presence of a full-size model of an Apollo Lunar Module: the only one in continental Europe to our knowledge. Adult entry fee: €9.5. An additional charge of €5 provides a ride on a small train to visit certain areas of the ESTEC Centre. Space Expo
The National Space Centre is to be found in Leicester, Great Britain. Dominated by an impressive 42 m high, translucent tower (home to a British Blue Streak rocket and an American Thor missile), this museum covers the main aspects of space, not forgetting astronomy. Adult entry fee: £12.72. National Space Centre
Museums and parks: Russia
Inaugurated in 1981, the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow is situated beneath the spectacular monument to space conquerors (100 m high and covered in titan, above photograph) dating from 1964. The museum reopened this year on 12 April, after a complete renovation and a threefold increase of its exhibition surface area! However, another visit not to be missed is that of the museum belonging to Energia as it is here that you can see “treasures” such as the Gagarin spaceship and that used for the first spacewalk with Leonov. This museum is situated in the town of Korolev in the suburbs close to Moscow. Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow (Wikipedia - no official site) Energia Museum
160 km south of Moscow, the town of Kaluga is home to the Tsiolkovsky Museum. The famous Russian space exploration theorist actually lived in this town and it is possible to visit his house. Although, the museum itself was inaugurated in 1967, making it the first space museum in the world, it is beautifully preserved and its extensive collection is well worth the detour from Moscow. Tsiolkovsky Museum
Museums and parks: Japan
In the Land of the Rising Sun, not far from Fukuoka, Space World is essentially an attraction park based on a space theme. Its “space museum” section notably includes an Apollo Command Module which has not flown. But there is a bonus: beside the Venus GP roller coaster stands the only full-size model in the world of a space shuttle in a vertical position with its fuel tank and rocket boosters. Space World also offers a Space Camp programme in affiliation with its American counterpart. Adult entry fee: 4,200 Yen (approx. €32). Space World
Space sensations
To go just one step further, certain of the abovementioned sites enable their visitors to experience space sensations, that is to say to try out situations which resemble those experienced by astronauts. So do not hesitate to consult the websites shown for further details. For instance: the Visitor Complex at the Kennedy Space Center inaugurated the Shuttle Launch Experience attraction in 2007. Here, you sit in a simulator (which tilts and vibrates), and to a lesser extent, experience how the travellers in a hypothetical passenger module placed in a space shuttle payload bay would feel. The “Cité de l’Espace” in Toulouse has the “gyro-extrême” and the “astro-jump”, two sets of equipment respectively capable of making you turn in every direction and simulating walking with reduced gravity as on the Moon. This space sensation trend is also extending to theme parks which are not actually space parks. For instance, in Florida’s Walt Disney World, Epcot sends you to Mars with Mission: Space (NASA is a partner of the attraction). This simulation consists of 4-person cabins operated by centrifuges! During “lift-off”, the passengers are subjected to 2.5 g-force, which is very close to the 3 g-force of a space shuttle. But it does not last nearly so long as it is meant to be fun. Not close enough to the astronauts? Try the parabolic flights which enable you to float in weightlessness for twenty or so seconds and believe yourself aboard the ISS or on the Moon or Mars as depending on the curve followed by the airplane, it can create conditions corresponding to one sixth or one third g-force. In the United States, the company Zero-G is surfing this market and moving from airport to airport to attract more customers. This company’s modified Boeing 727 is therefore due to visit Las Vegas, Washington DC and Cape Canaveral in September, October and November. A ticket costs $4,950 (excluding taxes). In France, the company Novespace — a subsidiary of the CNES responsible for performing parabolic flights with an Airbus A300 — could shortly set up a similar service. Space Shuttle Launch Experience “Cité de l’Espace” (select “training” in the English menu) Mission: Space Zero-G Corporation Novespace
If the space sensation market continues its expansion (read this Enjoy Space article), tomorrow’s holidays and leisure activities could take on a more and more pronounced “celestial aspect”.
Published on 29 July 2009Images credit: museums and parks concerned except for the monument to the conqueror of space and for the Tsiolkovsky Musuem (credit: O. Sanguy). (*) To ensure our readers are objectively informed, we would reiterate that the Enjoy Space website was initiated by the “Cité de l’espace” (see “About us”).
This is the mythical rocket par excellence, the one that launched Sputnik, the first satellite and Gagarin, the first man in space. The CSG, Guiana Space Centre, is now one of its launch bases: a historic achievement.
The first episode of this famous science-fiction series was broadcast in September 1966. NASA has often made references to these programmes, as in the case of the space shuttle Enterprise, which had the same name as the spaceship in the series.
50 years ago on 5 May 1961, a few weeks after Gagarin, American Alan Shepard reached space. Several years later, he was to walk on the Moon, summarising as it were the race in which the Soviet Union and the United States were competing.
