If seeing replicas of the spacecrafts that have helped humans orbit the earth and displays of stylish space jumpsuits and yucky space food lifts your inner-astronaut spirit, NASA – A Human Adventure Exhibition may be the best place in town for you to indulge your space-geek habit.
In cooperation with NASA, 350 space exploration-related objects are featured in the exhibition currently held in Bangkok.
The exhibition opened yesterday at Central Ladprao with a special appearance by Brig. Gen. Charles Duke, the tenth person to walk on the moon.
“To become an astronaut, it takes dedication, physical training and motivation,” he advised the children in the audience who dream of flying into space.
The first thing visitors encounter at the exhibition is “The Globe”, which is a circular screen that allows 360-degree views of the interactive space display via a telescope. Circling through the sky, the sun and planets of our solar system come with handy descriptions, similar to a gaming experience.
Then visitors are taken back to the beginning of space technology, starting with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecrafts and a space shuttle from the US. Russian innovations are also on display, including a replica of the infamous Sputnik satellite.
Other fun items at the exhibition are the astronauts’ “lifestyle” items, from their canned food, toothpaste to underwear.
The highlights of the event are the space experience rides including the “G Force Simulator,” which imitates what astronauts feel during a space shuttle launch and its return to Earth- yes, extreme dizziness.
People who want to experience the ride are placed in a completely sealed, dark cockpit with a big TV screen showing views of space as the machine rotates aggressively for a surreal experience. It lasts about two minutes and costs an extra THB250.
There’s a red button to push in case of emergency.
Another ride is the “Degrees of Freedom.” The machine helps astronauts practice moving in a frictionless environment as they’re challenged to fix their spacecraft while floating in zero gravity.
Although, it’s just a machine that lifts you up in the air. This ride costs an extra THB150.
Posh, 3, carefully fixes his spacecraft
For those of you whose knowledge of space exploration is limited to the name Neil Armstrong and the movie Interstellar, the photo spots where you put your face in an awesome space jumpsuit or pretend to float in the zero-gravity room could be a highlight.
The room is fake, and you’re practically walking to sit on a chair and strike a pose with all the gravity, but it sure makes a good #space Instagram photo. How else would your friends know you visited the exhibition?
NASA – A Human Adventure Exhibition is at BBC Hall, Central Ladprao until Feb. 1.
There are weekday and weekend ticket prices: THB400 – 500 for adults and THB250 – 350 for children available online and the box office.
