Thanks to generous funding from the UK Space Agency and NERC, we curated a range of astronomical science experiences for budding space explorers over the first weekend of May.
Those who visited from the 4–6 May got to build their own satellite in our bespoke KLA Lab workshop and discover the quandaries of human space travel in our live science show, Technispace: Blast Off!
And we were also pleased to welcome our friends from the Cardiff Astronomical Society and AstroCymru to answer any space questions and further engage with our audience.
Teresa, from the Cardiff Astronomical Society, said:
“We’re delighted that we were invited to come and share our love for astronomy with people this weekend.
“Getting to come to places like this is a big part of what we do, and this isn’t the first time we’ve come to Techniquest — far from it, actually!
“The Society has been working with Techniquest for nearly 40 years, so it’s great to be back and sharing some space education with everyone.”
The drizzly weather we faced would usually spell disaster for astronomers looking to study the sky, but AstroCymru’s fantastic 3D space films allowed us to journey out to the far reaches of the Milky Way in the comfort and warmth of the Learning Hub.
Through four distinct short films, we got to study each planet — and ex-planet… sorry, Pluto! — in our solar system, navigate dangerous asteroid belts, and discover just how many Earths can fit into a supergiant star like VY Canis Majoris.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Association of Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) for initiating the UK-wide project Our World from Space and to the UK Space Agency and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for its funding support, to Cardiff Astronomical Society and AstroCymru for their contributions, and to all of you who attended Techniquest over the weekend — we hope you had a blast.