It was a hot day yesterday. We left around three o'clock, knowing it would not take long to get there and we had an estimated time of an hour and a half to go through the exhibition. The building looks like a gigantic white flower in bloom, standing next to the water from where you can see the Merlion. A large elevator took us up to the fourth floor. The view from inside the glass elevator was incredible and the size of the building was unbelievable. Then it took us to the basement, where the exhibition was held. We walked through the gift shop, already picking out things we wanted to buy, before finding the opening to NASA's exhibition A Human Adventure.
The first room instantly reminded me of the inside of the TARDIS from the very old TV-series Doctor Who. The room was a tribute to great authors and film makers that had very early ideas of space travel. Two screens showed facts about the artists. I recognised the movie where the space ship crashes into the moon's eye (but I have never actually seen it) and the only name I knew was Jules Verne. We then walked through a small corridor with facts about the first space missions - like launching Sputnik. There was a full scale replica of the satellite and it was surprisingly tiny. Just a silver ball with four metal sticks. A small TV was looping JFK's speech about going to space. It was inspiring and sad; he seems to have been such a great president and now look at USA.
The next room had the real deal. In the middle was an engine that had been used, they called it Space Flown. The backside was impressively complicated. A nose cone lied by itself, lit up from the inside to show of its fascinating cables. It, too, had been to space. Pictures of scientists was displayed on the wall with black panels explaining their work. I had difficulties standing still to read any of these things, my eyes were drawn to the modules. Along the next corridor lied a long, yet small, replica of the largest rocket ever built. The Saturn V. It was developed to send humans to the Moon. Seeing the video explaining the three stages of the rocket was educational. It takes a lot of power to go that far. The little capsule where the humans sat was very tiny in comparison to the vehicle.
The exhibition showed five types of space suites; the oldest to what John and I guessed would be the newest. In the background we could hear the speech from the first moon-landing. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Behind the showcases were the two moon buggies, looking as cute as they do in the photos I have seen online. I like to imagine driving one of them on the moon, going over the dunes and glide downwards into a smooth landing. It makes me sad thinking about them still there, left behind since there was no way of retrieving them.
There were only two rooms left. First we passed through a smaller room with displays showing the food and the small utilities used back in that time. I found a small bag where the explanation said a space survival kit. To me it looked like 3D glasses and portable phone charger. I guess we can switch the common question what would you bring to a deserted island to what would you bring to a deserted space station? I have to think of an answer to that one. In the same room we saw a door that had been space flown. It looked like it had taken a few beatings with several holes and scratches across its surface. Imagine the sound of small rocks hitting the only thing that keeps you away from floating freely in space. Scary thought. I admire astronauts.
The last room was high in ceiling to be able to display the life size replica of Atlantis. Going up a small staircase led us to the backside of the display and we could see how it looked like inside the cockpit. Is it called cockpit in a rocket? There were four uncomfortable-looking chairs and a lot of small lights. Beneath, going back down and around the ship, we could see the small compartment where the rest of the crew sat. More uncomfortable chairs with the wonderful view of storage boxes. I will wait until it looks more of a comfortable journey before I will go to space. In the corner was the G-Force Astronaut Trainer - two black boxes spinning around. There was a surprisingly long queue for it, especially since one trip costed six dollars and only lasted less than a minute. I could not ride because of my sore back but I would not have gone even if I could. It looked like a nauseating machine - nothing I could have handled!
Before leaving the Art Science Museum we bought a white extra large NASA t-shirt and a white NASA cap. Outside the sun was still blasting. We walked over to Gardens by the Bay, having set our minds on a satay dinner early on. We both became sweaty after just a few steps among the trees. It is fascinating how well they block the sound of the eight lane highway nearby. We walked all the way through and had a tasty dinner at Satay by the Bay. When we had finished we were done for the day, walked to the MRT and were just outside our condo when the rain started falling.
There were only two rooms left. First we passed through a smaller room with displays showing the food and the small utilities used back in that time. I found a small bag where the explanation said a space survival kit. To me it looked like 3D glasses and portable phone charger. I guess we can switch the common question what would you bring to a deserted island to what would you bring to a deserted space station? I have to think of an answer to that one. In the same room we saw a door that had been space flown. It looked like it had taken a few beatings with several holes and scratches across its surface. Imagine the sound of small rocks hitting the only thing that keeps you away from floating freely in space. Scary thought. I admire astronauts.
The last room was high in ceiling to be able to display the life size replica of Atlantis. Going up a small staircase led us to the backside of the display and we could see how it looked like inside the cockpit. Is it called cockpit in a rocket? There were four uncomfortable-looking chairs and a lot of small lights. Beneath, going back down and around the ship, we could see the small compartment where the rest of the crew sat. More uncomfortable chairs with the wonderful view of storage boxes. I will wait until it looks more of a comfortable journey before I will go to space. In the corner was the G-Force Astronaut Trainer - two black boxes spinning around. There was a surprisingly long queue for it, especially since one trip costed six dollars and only lasted less than a minute. I could not ride because of my sore back but I would not have gone even if I could. It looked like a nauseating machine - nothing I could have handled!
Before leaving the Art Science Museum we bought a white extra large NASA t-shirt and a white NASA cap. Outside the sun was still blasting. We walked over to Gardens by the Bay, having set our minds on a satay dinner early on. We both became sweaty after just a few steps among the trees. It is fascinating how well they block the sound of the eight lane highway nearby. We walked all the way through and had a tasty dinner at Satay by the Bay. When we had finished we were done for the day, walked to the MRT and were just outside our condo when the rain started falling.
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