Space capsule lands at museum
IT’S the capsule that brought astronaut Tim Peake home from space – and it’s landing in Cardiff this week.
However, while the universe might be infinite, the entrance to the National Museum Cardiff isn’t – a fact which caused a bit of a problem when staff tried getting the 1.7-tonne piece of cosmic hardware into the building for the upcoming exhibition.
The Soyuz TMA-19M capsule, which will be on show from tomorrow until February 10, proved to be too big to fit, causing the glass frontage above the museum’s front doors to undergo emergency removal.
Scaffolding had to be erected in order for the infamous craft – which flew Peake and his two cosmonaut crewmates to and from the International Space Station – to be winched up and through the gap.
It was then lowered onto a trolley and rolled into the gallery area.
The exhibition in Cardiff will also include Space Descent VR – a unique virtual reality adventure using Samsung VR technology which places visitors right at the heart of Tim Peake’s journey, giving the user a 360-degree look into what it was like on board the vessel during its 250-mile return journey.
The spacecraft – complete with its 25-metre parachute – will be free to visit, while the virtual reality element will be available to visitors aged 13 and over for the price of £6.
Tim Peake spent six months on board the International Space Station from December 2015 until June 2016, during which time he completed a spacewalk and ran the London marathon from space.
He said: “I’m particularly happy that people up and down the UK now have the opportunity to discover more about both my mission and space travel, and that the Science Museum Group [which acquired the capsule in 2016] along with Samsung, are doing so much to inspire the public and schools with this tour.”