Space Camp
Space...  It's deep, man
24 July 2007
Dana Centre, London SW7 5HD

Want to be an astronaut?  Ever wondered how space travel might affect your body?  How about your mind?  At Space Camp, we explored the reality of human space travel.

Astronaut Michel Tognini joined us by video-link from the European Space Agency to tell us about his life in space.  What's it like getting up in the morning for a job like that?

Altitude physiologist Victoria-Alice Porter simulates the extreme forces that astronauts experience when they escape, and return to, the Earth’s atmosphere.  She joined us to chat about her unique experiences in artificial space.

What is it like to fly a rocket into orbit?  Does the thrill overcome the anxiety of a lunar landing?  Chris Riley, producer of the BBC’s Space Odyssey, told us more about the psychological nature of space travel.

Kevin Fong, the UK’s top space medic, shared his expertise on the highs and lows of space travel, from the vomit comet to the long term effects of space travel on astronauts’ bodies.  To find out if the audience had what it takes to go into space, Chris Welch put them through their paces.  He should know what it’s like – he was short-listed for the UK’s Juno space mission.

Guests had the opportunity to visit Space World, where they could experience the Dana Centre’s very own human gyroscope.  They also took the opportunity to handle the objects that help bring astronauts back to Earth in one piece – what’s the vital equipment an astronaut needs to survive in space?

Find out more about events at the Dana Centre.