Find space in holidays for fascinating centre

9:00am Sunday 6th July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

SPACE – the final frontier and perfect destination on a soggy summer Saturday.

Named one of England’s best large visitor attractions of 2007, the National Space Centre in Leicester offers hours of info-tainment for would-be adventurers of all ages.

Our first port of call was the fulldomed space theatre for a showing of Astronaut, voiced by Ewan McGregor, which explores the rigorous training and testing involved before lift off.

It’s thrilling stuff, though my friend Nicki admitted to closing her eyes on the ‘spinning round at great speeds’ bit.

Five-year-old Nicholas and his pal Lewis were agog, however, and more than happy to venture into the theatre again after lunch for a fact-packed exploration of the universe and just how many light years planets are away from Earth in Big, narrated by Leicester’s own Sir Richard Attenborough.

Inbetween screen times, there were displays to read, buttons to press, space related games to play and sandwiches to munch in Boosters cafe.

We zoomed up the Rocket Tower to see the centre’s biggest rockets and the satellite zoo and put our mental ability and physical prowess to the test in the Tranquility Base.

The flight simulator was given a wide berth from all four of us – though I’m sure it’s great fun – in favour of an interactive test to load a space shuttle with all the right equipment and rations.

Centre staff were both smiling and knowledgeable and the shop, Cargo Bay, has some unusual present ideas as well as pocket money toys.

The National Space Centre is located in Exploration Drive, Leicester. Brown road signs with a distinctive rocket logo will direct you from the arterial routes around the city.

For more details, opening times and admission prices, visit the website at www.spacecentre.co.uk or call 0870 607 7223. Tickets can be pre-booked to avoid queues at busy times.

The centre is part of the Stay, Play and Explore tourism initiative in the county. Other atractions involved in the scheme, which offers discount hotel accommodation and family admission, are Twycross Zoo, Snibston Discovery Park, Twinlakes and Conkers. For more details, visit www.goleicestershire.com