Journey to the Moon

It has been fifty years to the day since humans first set foot on the surface of the Moon. The flight of Apollo 11 was the culmination of dozens of flights and millions of hours of work by a dedicated team of engineers, technicians and other specialists. It was the greatest technical achievement of the 20th century, and Neil Armstrong’s first “small step” will forever remain a landmark moment in human history.

At Kielder Observatory, we want to celebrate this historic mission with special events all about space travel and the Moon landings. This event is aimed at a younger audience, aged 6-12, with lots of fun activities to get involved with.

We’ll take you through astronaut training, to see who has the right stuff to be a space traveller. We’ll learn about space suits and why they’re so important, then you’ll design your very spacesuit control panel! You’ll need it, because our next stop is to meet the mighty Saturn V rocket. This mammoth machine propelled astronauts up to the Moon and into the history books, and you’ll hear about what it was like to ride. You’ll sample some of the food that the astronauts ate while on their journey and learn about the technology that came from Apollo which we still use today! Finally we'll make and launch our own Saturn V rockets into the sky.

It’s going to be a party of cosmic proportions! Don’t miss out!