Space
What is it like to live and work in the weightless environment of space? What do astronauts eat? How do they sleep? And how do they go to the bathroom?
Discover the answers in the Space exhibition, including the Zero Gravity Space Lab where you can experience the illusion of weightlessness. The Space Lab is the highlight of the ‘Living and working in space’ section, which includes a video tour of the International Space Station (ISS) featuring Australian astronauts (and married couple) Dr Andy Thomas and Dr Shannon Walker.
Your journey to space begins in the Space Shuttle, a replica of the low orbit spacecraft that took people to the ISS. Here you can find out what it’s like to live and work in a space station.
Take a couple of small steps and you'll be in a habitation module based on a prototype design for the ISS, where you can get answers for all your questions about how astronauts sleep, prepare meals, eat, wash, stay in shape and even go to the loo!
The highlight of your space trip is the Zero Gravity Space Lab, unique to Powerhouse Ultimo in Australia, which uses special effects to create the illusion of weightlessness associated with microgravity. It includes commentary by Dr Andy Thomas about the research work carried out on the ISS and why it is important to people back on Earth.
After experiencing life as an astronaut, explore the many artefacts in the Space gallery including an early rocket made by the pioneering scientist Robert Goddard, images from the ‘space race’, a Soviet flightsuit, a spacesuit and spacecraft emergency equipment and material recovered from the Woomera Rocket Range in South Australia.
Suspended above you is an amazing collection of satellites and other spacecraft, including one of the world’s largest rocket motors and a model of the first artificial satellite, Sputnik-1.
