The
first thing our visitors see, as they approach the clean external lines of Space
Academy, is a huge large-format photograph of the earth.
Split
across 8 "monoliths" this image was specially provided to us by NASA and shows
the host country of Spain in the middle of frame, completely unobstructed by
cloud. To the right is most of Northern Europe, partly covered by a weather
system, and to the left is the massive surface area of the Sahara Desert with
sand storms blowing way out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Click
here to view an iPIX of the area as visitors approach Academia del Espacio
The
definition of this image is so high that it took two orbits of the SeaWifs satellite
to download the whole image. Half was sent to a receiving station in Dundee,
the other half to Madrid, and the whole image was then assembled at Goddard
Space Flight centre before being forwarded to us. Notice that the orientation
of Spain is deliberately at an unusual angle, thus contributing further to the
concept that "in space there's no way up"
Once
the image of mother earth has drawn our visitors as if to a "beacon" they discover
a series of images and text on the reverse side of the monoliths. These panels
serve as an informative area in which guests can browse before entering the
main experience. They are intended to stimulate and challenge the audience.
Click
here to view an iPIX of the Entrance Area
The
European Space Agency have been invaluable to us in providing help, advice and
access to their facilities. They have also supplied our installation in Valencia
with a "light box" exhibit showing a section from the Columbus European laboratory
(which is displayed in our entrance area) and a large number of astronaut overalls
for the use of staff and visitors.
The blue spacesuits are
trademark for European astronauts. The suits as shown in the picture on the
right are available in several sizes and can be worn over the guests' clothes.
Each suit has several
badges, representing the European Space Agency, the European Astronaut Corps
and a specific mission.
