The National Space Centre is a marvellous learning experience, covering outer space, the planets of our solar system, space rockets old and new, satellites and satellite communication including a full size representaion of the first Russian  satellite Sputnik.  There is also a restored Russian Soyuz capsule on display in the entrance and many impressive displays in the main exhibition area too numerous to mention, but include many models and interactive displays.

Apart from the Rocket Tower and the large exhibition area,  there is also the most amazing Space Theatre Planetarium which presents impressive shows on the massive dome overhead.   The show we saw was called 'Mars' and was dedicated to the current exploration of the red planet and the British Beagle2 experiment that was due to land on Mars at Christmas 2003, but sadly failed to reach the surface of the red plant successfully.  The Beagle2 was a project in which Leicester University was directly involved - the fact that the mission failed is no reflection on that though.   Space exploration is a very dangerous pursuit.

Model of Sputnik

Click logo to visit National Space Centre website

I heartily recommend a visit to The National Space Centre which is located near the centre of Leicester and is easy to reach from the M1 motorway.  I have to say that entrance is not exctly cheap at £8.95 and that a couple of the displays did not work as intended on our visit, but that is a minor niggle.  The cafe was, as always with such attractions, not particularly cheap either and the coffee tasted like hot chocolate!  More importantly the lift to the top of the Rocket Tower was not operational at the time (2003) but that should be rectified by the time you read this.  Without a lift visitors had to climb over 141 steps if they wished to get to the top and look down on the Thor Able and Blue Streak rockets. 

ESA and NASA Space Missions