The capsule that brought Tim Peake home from space could be landing near you soon, to reveal just what it’s like to be an astronaut.
The Soyuz capsule is embarking on a tour of the UK from Wednesday 27 September until May 2019. The schedule is below:
| National Science and Media Museum, Bradford | 27 September – 19 November 2017 |
| Locomotion, Shildon | 22 November 2017 – 15 January 2018 |
| National Railway Museum, York | 17 January – 8 March 2018 |
| Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester | 10 March – 13 May 2018 |
| National Museum Scotland, Edinburgh | May – August 2018 |
| Competition winner venue | TBC |
| National Museum Wales, Cardiff | November 2018 – January 2019 |
| National Museum Ulster, Belfast | February – May 2019 |
The Science Museum Group bought the Soyuz TMA-10M in 2016. The group has now partnered with Samsung to create a virtual reality experience using its Gear VR technology, which has been on display in London’s Science Museum since January.
The capsule will be equipped with Space Descent VR, which gives the user a 360-degree look into what it was like on board, recreating Peake’s 250-mile (400 km) journey back to Earth. Space Descent VR has created with Alchemy VR and is a first-person experience that lets you sit alongside a virtual Peake during a 12-minute journey to Earth.
In particular, the experience lets you travel 400km from the ISS, slow from a speed of 25,000km per hour, and land in the Kazakhstan desert. While travelling to Earth, the VR footage allows you to look around the claustrophobic space capsule in 360-degrees.
The spacecraft – complete with its 25-metre parachute – will be free to visit at all venues, and Space Descent VR will be available to visitors aged 13 and over from £5.
Tim Peake spent six months on board the International Space Station from December 2015 until June 2016, during which time he completed a spacewalk and ran the London marathon from space.
“It is wonderful to be in Bradford for the start of another incredible journey for this spacecraft, which took me on a life-changing journey and delivered me safely back to Earth,” said Tim Peake.
“I’m particularly happy that people up and down the UK now have the opportunity to discover more about my Principia mission and space travel, and that the Science Museum Group – with the support of Samsung – are doing so much to inspire the public and schools in this tour.
“I’d also urge anyone who wishes to see the capsule land near them to contact their local venues to apply to be the sixth destination.”
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