An immersive exhibition ‘Moon and Beyond’ focusing on past, present and future achievements in space exploration is being held at the Haixinsha Exhibition Hall in Guangzhou between December 20th, 2019 and April 5th, 2020.
Children experience the ‘seven minutes of terror’ Mars landing sequence in VR. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]
Covering an area of 3,000 square meters, the exhibition invites you to go on an immersive journey into the universe from the big bang to planet earth through multiple huge scale projections, VR experiences, interactive rooms and more in ten theme areas.
The ‘Star Gazers’ section shows the moon and space in the history of art, the ‘Space Race’ tells the story of 1957-1967, ten years that changed human history, while the section ‘Satellites and Outposts’ illustrates today’s human presence in space.
The interactive room ‘Colonising Mars’ [Photo: Newsgd.com/Monica]
Furthermore you can take an immersive journey to Mars at the interactive room ‘Colonising Mars’, and experience the ‘seven minutes of terror’ Mars landing sequence in VR with real-time rendered graphics and spatial sound effects at ‘Mars’ Landing’. All 3D data and landing procedures of Hello Mars were recreated based on NASA’s public data and research.
In the ‘China Lunar Exploration’ area, you will learn about the development of China’s aerospace industry since the PRC’s founding. Don’t miss out on the Long March 3 rocket model (1:15), the lunar rover and the Chang’e-3 Detector.
The lunar rover [Photo: Newsgd.com/Monica]
The exhibition is a great destination for both parents and kids. In a room designed for kids, visitors can watch an educational video to get to know more about the solar system and build a moon through VR technology. Some glowing circles and dark boxes have been hidden inside the room, just waiting for child visitors to find out and DIY their own solar system.
In addition, a series of activities on the theme of space will also be held during upcoming months, including lectures, design competitions and concerts.
The Long March 3 rocket model (1:15) [Photo: Newsgd.com/Monica]
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing, the project has been produced by Crossmedia Asia in partnership with China's Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP), the branch of the China National Space Administration responsible for the Chang’e project which led to the landing on the dark side of the Moon. All the images, footage and data in the exhibition have been provided by CLEP, NASA and many other national space agencies, and all the interactive and VR experiences are based on this data.
Rocket remains [Photo: Newsgd.com/Monica]
Moon and Beyond exhibition
Period: December 20th, 2019 - April 5th, 2020
Venue: Haixinsha Exhibition Hall (海心沙展览馆)
Nearby metro station: Haixinsha Station, APM line or Zhujiang New Town station, Line 3 or 5
Ticket prices:
For adult, 128 RMB per person on a weekday, and 148 RMB per person during the weekend;
For students & the elderly, 88 RMB per person on a weekday, and 98 RMB per person on the weekend; these kind of tickets are only available at the exhibition site, however.
Children under one meter are allowed to attend for free accompanied by their guardians.
Online Ticketing: maoyan.com, damai.cn
The entrance of the exhibition [Photo: Newsgd.com/Monica]
Do you know?
The exhibition ‘Moon and Beyond’ has its premiere in Tianhe, a district in Guangzhou. Do you know that the landing site of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe has been named "Statio Tianhe" after the spacecraft made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon in January 2019?
Together with three nearby impact craters and one hill, the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). "Tianhe" is the Chinese word for Milky Way and "Statio" is Latin for base. Before "Statio Tianhe", only one place had been listed on lunar maps as "Statio", namely "Statio Tranquilitatis" (Tranquility Base), the site where Apollo 11 crew members of the United States landed and disembarked in 1969.
On July 16, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins lifted off in a Saturn V rocket on a journey to the moon. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin landed Apollo 11’s lunar module on the moon, becoming the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface.
China joined the space club on April 24th, 1970, when the Long March-1 carrier rocket launched the country's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into orbit. On November 3rd, 2016, China's current largest carrier rocket, the Long March-5, made its maiden flight, with a capacity of 25 tonnes for low-Earth orbit and 14 tonnes for geosynchronous orbit.
Author: Monica Liu
Editor: Simon Haywood