About Space Academy

Summary of Experience

Space Academy is comprised of four distinctly different simulated experiences which emulate three stages of preparation for a space-flight, followed by the intense personal experience of floating above "home" at 17,000 miles an hour as the ISS is constructed around you.

The theme running throughout the content of Space Academy is that amazing and fascinating things happen in space. Weightlessness confuses a human being. We like to refer to "up" and "down" - expressions that only have relevance in relation to gravity. As we experience the personal problems associated with micro-gravity ("where did I put my toothbrush" gains a whole new range of possible answers) we come to understand that this lack of reference is the very reason why man goes into space. In micro-gravity we can study processes that are normally masked by gravity driven forces:-

Combustion Science : Hot air no longer rises from a flame - Even small improvements in our knowledge of combustion could help us decrease pollution and help to conserve our natural resources.
Fluid Physics : We can observe purely surface tension effects acting on a fluid flow in space - Sand can behave as a fluid which will help us learn how to prevent floods, avalanches and earthquake damage.
Materials Science : The ability to control the growth of a crystal in space allows us to engineer the properties of materials. On Earth the gravity effects produce imperfections that lead to material failures.
Medical Science : If we learn to grow cancer tissues from cell studies in space, treatment protocols could be patient specific and thus more effective with far fewer side effects.

But Space Academy is fun. It's not about complex science. It simply lets you experience some of the odd results of weightlessness at first hand.

The seven main zones of Space Academy are entitled:-

Entrance
Introduction Film
Laboratory
Lift and Skybridge
White Room
CRV Simulator
Exit Exhibition