New space museum is out of this world

Ahead of China's 6th annual Space Day, an immersive and interactive museum recently opened to the public in Central China's Hubei province to promote aerospace science popularization.

The opening ceremony of No 9 Universe Space Exploration Center was held on Wednesday as a part of a space science popularization week jointly organized by the China National Space Administration news center and the Jingzhou municipal government.

At the opening ceremony, CNSA news center director Meng Hua said the great cause of aerospace begins with dreams and advances based on innovation. She hoped the museum could open a door for children to explore, and sow the seeds of, their love for science.

The Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization's Secretary-General Yu Qi said the museum is a new landmark for children's space dreams and hoped it would become a model of popular science education for teenagers in China and the Asia-Pacific region.

Co-founder of Commsat, a private satellite company, Peng Yuanyuan, expressed his wish for young people to improve their knowledge of space science and technology at the museum, cultivating a systemic and engineering way of thinking, and the ability to face challenges.

Located in Songzi, Hubei's Jingzhou city, the museum was developed by Commsat and a local State-owned enterprise. It covers 20,000 square meters and provides more than 40 immersive and interactive activities across five zones-astronaut training, the Moon, Mars, deep space, and cosmic origins.

In the museum, visitors can experience the dialogue between space and Earth, receive the flight status information of actual satellites, check data such as orbital altitude and satellite temperature, and design and assemble satellite models.

Visitors can also wear magnetic shoes and experience walking upside down and how astronauts feel when moving. In the weightlessness pool, they can carry out underwater weightlessness training like real astronauts.

After the opening ceremony, Zhao Chuandong, one of China's first batch of astronauts, gave a science lecture about space exploration.

The museum also held the exhibition A Life Story of Qian Xuesen, a pioneer of China's space exploration.

In 2016, China designated April 24 as the country's Space Day to commemorate the launch of its first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into space on April 24, 1970.