You Had Me at Space Toilet: Beijing's New Interactive Space Shuttle Exhibit

Those who missed out on space camp as a kid now have a chance to make up for it as Beijing launches a new science exhibition entitled From Here to Space at the China Science and Technology Museum. The exhibition is an immersive experience, offering visitors the chance to live and work as an astronaut through interactive technologies and virtual reality, as well as replicas of shuttle segments, designed just like the real vessels inside and out.

What's more, visitors can also try their hand at operating landing vehicles as well as going through the astronaut selection and training process, from registration and psychological tests to simulation training. The activities are organized by difficulty and include seal closure training, vibrating and rotating seats, and other simulations that attempt to recreate an astronaut's experience with high-intensity vibrations during launch and landing.

Visitors can also enter a replica of the core module model of the Tianhe space station as “astronauts.” The module is equipped with living facilities such as sleeping bags, spacesuits, space bikes, and space toilets. “After astronauts enter space, their bodies will undergo a series of adaptive changes, and they have to carry out scientific physical exercises every day,” said Di Xilong, the designer of the exhibition. Out of the core module, the audience will go for a walk in the “cosmic dust theater,” an immersive area that gives participants a front-row seat to all the mysteries of space.

The “Space Home” exhibition carries an aesthetic that's something of a mix between modern design and full-on sci-fi. The first thing you'll see in this area is the green space tomato vine in the space capsule tank. According to Hu Bin, the curator of the exhibition, this area is meant to introduce space food to the visitors. “We are showing the public that there are many scientific problems in space that we need to explore. The point of breeding plants in space is so that in future interstellar travel and migrations, when we build a space station, we can provide the crew with plants that will continue to grow in space to provide food security.”

The From Here to Space exhibition will be open to the public free of charge in the short-term exhibition hall of the China Science and Technology Museum. Visitors can make an appointment to visit through the official website or WeChat account “China Digital Science and Technology Museum.”

China Science and Technology Museum 中国科技馆
5 Beichen Donglu (ten minutes east of the south gate of the Olympic Forest Park), Chaoyang District
朝阳区北辰东路5号
Tue-Sun 9am-4.30pm, extended hours for special events (ticket selling 8.30am- 3.30pm)
Ph: 5904 1188

This article was originally published on our sister site, Jingkids International.

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Images: Beijing News, CGTN, China Daily, Baidu Images