Special exhibition, open from Friday, November 29, 2024
The special exhibition at the House of Nature invites you to discover the fascination of the neighboring planet Mars. For a long time, the Red Planet has captured the attention of humanity. Thanks to technological advancements, numerous successful Mars missions have been carried out, allowing us to create a detailed picture of this fascinating celestial body. The questions of whether there has ever been life on Mars or whether it could be habitable in the future stimulate both imagination and science.
The exhibition is dedicated to precisely these questions and presents the latest scientific findings in an interactive way. Supported by original data from renowned space agencies such as NASA and ESA, the exhibition offers not only a look back at the history of Mars, but also a glimpse of the potential first humans who could set foot on this planet.
History of Planetary Science
Visitors are taken on an exciting journey through time and space. At the beginning, the guests are given an overview of the long history of Mars research. In order to make human achievements in planetary science tangible, visitors meet important personalities such as a Babylonian astronomer, Johannes Kepler, Giovanni Schiaparelli and Swati Mohan in front of the actual exhibition rooms. The artist Luna Navarro-Hopferwieser has brought these researchers to life in loving detail. They show the way to a possible future on Mars.
Interactive experiences and exhibits
An entrance leads to the exhibition, which presents an impressive, high-resolution representation of Mars. The exhibits include a tactile model of the surface of Mars, a Martian globe showing the landing sites of various rovers, and a real piece of Martian rock in the shape of a meteorite. In addition, visitors can recreate the conditions on the planet in a Mars suit prototype and experience how high they could jump on Mars at a jump station.
Mars in numbers
Mars is the fourth planet in our solar system if you count from the sun. Together with Mercury, Venus and Earth, it is one of the “Earth-like planets”. Mars is also a rocky planet with a solid surface. It is located at a distance of about 1.5 times the distance from the Sun as the Earth. Therefore, a Martian year lasts longer than an Earth year: Mars needs 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun. One rotation on its axis takes about 30 minutes longer than on Earth, making a “sol” (Martian day) 24.5 hours long. However, Mars is only about half the diameter of our Earth.
The atmosphere of Mars is thin and mysterious. Composed mainly of carbon dioxide, it causes extreme temperature fluctuations, varying between a pleasant 20°C and a frosty -153°C. On average, Martians, if they existed, experience temperatures around -63°C. Despite its similarities to Earth, Mars is only about half the diameter of our planet.
Visions of the future for life on Mars
The exhibition also addresses how humans could live on Mars. In view of the high costs of transporting materials from Earth, many resources would have to be produced locally. Innovative designs by the architectural firm Liquifer show how efficient habitats can be created with Martian materials. In addition, the Martian kitchen will be presented, which will show which foods could be possible on Mars in the future, such as protein-rich insects and plants from special greenhouses.
Mars is waiting for you – are you ready for adventure?
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