Hong Kong Space Museum’s exhibit halls set for relaunch after HK$32 million facelift
Disorientation in virtual space station and creating an aurora inside a vacuum tube just some of the new experiences that await visitors
Visitors to the Hong Kong Space Museum will enjoy a more interactive experience when two exhibition halls reopen to the public from Wednesday, after it closed for more than two years for a HK$32 million (US$4.1 million) facelift.
Experiencing a sensation of disorientation in a virtual space station and creating an aurora inside a vacuum tube were just some of the new experiences that awaited visitors in the two permanent exhibition halls, which covered a total area of 17,200 sq ft in the Tsim Sha Tsui museum.
The Hall of the Cosmos and Hall of Space Exploration would showcase about 100 new exhibits.
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“We hope visitors will have more of an experience and learn through activities,” museum curator Robert Leung Wai-ming said on Tuesday.
“We also hope our exhibits can bring visitors a new experience.”
In the Hall of Space Exploration, which also covered the development of space technology, highlights included a virtual space station, which through the use of upside-down video images allowed visitors to experience the feeling of disorientation one would get in a weightless environment.
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More exhibits related to China’s space technology would also be on display. Visitors, for example, would be able to learn about the procedures for rocket launches through a model of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, located in the Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia.
“China’s space technology has developed rapidly in the past decades. We decided to introduce this part in the exhibition to give visitors a more in-depth understanding of the development of China’s space technology,” Leung said.
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In the Hall of the Cosmos, visitors would be able to create an aurora on an Earth model by adjusting the strength of a solar wind inside a vacuum tube. The “moon jump” installation allowed users to experience gravity on the moon – one-sixth the strength of that on Earth.
Leung expected about 500,000 people to visit the two halls annually. That would mean about 900,000 in total at the museum including visitors to its space theatre.
Admission to the halls would be by sessions with a limited quota for each one. Each session would cover about 400 people.
