Volume 2, No. 13. July 12, 2002
New Arrivals
It’s
quadruple simulations!
Museu de les Ciences Principe Felipe, in Valencia, Spain, announces the arrival
of Space Academy/Academia del Espacio, June 5, 2002. Measurements: 650
square meters (6,997 square feet) four simulated experiences in a 22 minute
show. Delivered by Farmer Studios, Helifilms, European Space Agency and NASA.
When
it came to presenting a simulated experience on space travel, the Museu de les
Ciences Principe Felipe went to the highest authority on the subject: Spain’s
first astronaut, Pedro Duque, who, as a mission specialist, flew with John Glenn
on the Discovery in 1998.
Duque
acts as guide throughout the experience, first describing his 1998 mission with
Glenn and introducing the International Space Station. Guests don replicas of
European astronauts’ trademark blue spacesuits before entering the simulations,
including a full size rotating mockup of the Space Station laboratory. After
boarding the simulation of the Kennedy Space Center Launch Lift to the Skybridge,
guests move into The White Room to prepare for their mission. The Crew Return
Vehicle then launches them into space, producing the same g-forces the astronauts
feel when lifting off, and landing safely back on Earth.
Helifilms
was granted access to the Kennedy Space Center shuttle launch pad and NASA’s
Roger Crouch, Senior Scientist for the International Space Station also contributed
to the script’s development.
Duque touched down at the Museum for the dedication of the new academy along with Valeriano Claros, Director of the Spanish Office of the European Space Agency, and Valencian First Vice-president Jose Luis Olivas. After the space experts laid their blessings on the project, the public endorsed the efforts as Space Academy has since operated at 100 percent capacity, prompting Domingo Escutia, the museum’s director of exhibitions to say, appropriately, “We have a success!”
©2002, Minton Enterprises LLC
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