Warwickshire County Council’s Museum Service marks 50 years since the very first Apollo 11 moon landing with a special summer exhibition dedicated to all things space exploration at Warwick’s M...
Warwickshire County Council’s Museum Service marks 50 years since the very first Apollo 11 moon landing with a special summer exhibition dedicated to all things space exploration at Warwick’s Market Hall Museum
Fifty years ago, on the 20th July 1969, the world held its breath as two members of NASA's Apollo 11 crew took their first steps on the surface of the Moon. To mark this important anniversary, Heritage and Culture Warwickshire recently made a public appeal for reminders and souvenirs of those exciting days, all those years ago. The response was amazing, and the Market Hall Museum will be displaying photos signed by the Apollo astronauts, models of spacecraft, books on space travel, and more, this summer.
The team at Market Hall Museum has been busy preparing for the exhibition and a series of events for children of all ages to enjoy and learn more about space and the mood landings. These events will include a Question & Answer session with Dr, Susie Imber, the winner of BBC2’s Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? Mad Science are also running two workshops one of which includes making your own alien slime!
The upstairs First Museum gallery is being turned into a solar system which residents are invited to fill with planets, moons and spacecraft, with young visitors having the opportunity to come along and lie back to watch everything orbit the sun.
There is also a range of adult events organised during the exhibition, including a talk on the moon and space travel in science-fiction with Associate Professor Elizabeth Stanway from University of Warwick’s Astronomy and Astrophysics group. Perfect for any Trekkie.
Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Environment, Heritage and Culture said:
“This really is a fantastic exhibition that marks one of humankind’s greatest achievements. In addition to memorabilia, the exhibition also looks at spaceflight technology and how it has affected and influenced our everyday lives, past and present.
“One of the star attractions of this exhibition is a selection of real moon rock samples brought back by the Apollo astronauts - evidence for the ancient history of our nearest neighbour in space, which the museum is thrilled to have acquired on loan.”
More information about the museums service is available on the Warwickshire Website: http://heritage.warwickshire.gov.uk/museum-service/