“Space” Gallery at the Science Museum, London

The Science Museum’s Exploring Space gallery has closed after serving visitors for 39 years and a new gallery, Space has opened in the Museum’s West Hall.

The new display brings together iconic objects from the history of space travel with new technologies from the UK space industry, on show for the first time. In another world first, two crewed spacecraft are displayed side-by-side, the American Apollo Command Module and a Russian Soyuz Descent Module.

I was commissioned to produce explanatory illustrations as part of the new signage. Thanks to Libby Jackson, Kyle Osbrink, Keeley Carter, Abbie MacKinnon, Gareth G Jones and Marianne Dear for the opportunity to work on the project.

As ever, the comments and observations noted here are entirely my own, as are any errors.

Black Arrow

Black Arrow was a British satellite launch system developed in the 1960s by the aerospace company Saunders-Roe (later Westland Aircraft). The launch vehicles were assembled at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight and transported by ship to Australia to be launched from the RAAF Woomera Range Complex.

The first and second stages were fuelled by RP-1 paraffin (kerosine) with high test peroxide as an oxidiser, thrust vectoring providing attitude control on the first two stages. The third stage, called Waxwing, was spin-stabilised and used a solid rocket motor.

The Prospero satellite was designed to study the effects of the space environment on communications satellites and proved that the experimental lightweight solar cell design was a success. Launched in 1971 and officially deactivated in 1996, Prospero is in a low Earth orbit (LEO) which is not expected to decay until about 2070.

There were only four Black Arrow launches before the programme was cancelled due to cost. A fifth launch vehicle and satellite were prepared (but not launched) and are now preserved by the Science Museum. The first and second stages are now in storage, with the shroud, Waxwing and Prospero on display.

Apollo Command Module

This Apollo Command Module was flown as Apollo 10 in May 1969 and was the last “full dress” rehearsal for the Moon landing which took place two months later.

Depicted here in its flight configuration for its journey to the Moon, the conical Command Module housed the three-man crew and contained the equipment necessary for atmospheric re-entry and splashdown.

The cylindrical Service Module provided propulsion, electrical power, fuel, oxygen and other consumables during the flight.

The Lunar Module was designed to take two astronauts down to the Moon’s surface and consisted of two parts. The Descent Stage had four landing gear legs and contained a throttle-able rocket motor that allowed for a gentle controlled landing on the lunar surface. This stage then acted as a launch pad for the Ascent Stage which contained its own propulsion system and control thrusters and which carried the astronauts back up to the Command/Service Module (CSM) which had remained in lunar orbit.

Apollo Command Module Control Panel

Dominating the interior of the Command Module is the main display panel. The panel on display is from a simulator and is identical in every respect to the flight instruments.

The Mission Commander sits in the left-hand seat and his panel includes velocity, altitude, and attitude indicators, and the primary flight controls.

The Command Module pilot served as navigator so his central control panel includes the computer, caution & warning indicators, propulsion and environmental controls.

The Lunar Module pilot acted as a systems engineer, so the right-hand panel includes fuel cell gauges, electrical and battery controls and communications equipment.

Pratt & Whitney Fuel Cell

A fuel cell combines oxygen and hydrogen in a chemical reaction that produces both electricity and water. The water passed through an on-board purifier and was used as drinking water by the crew. Power output for each fuel cell was 1.4 kW at 30 volts direct current.

In the Block 2 spacecraft, three fuel cells were fitted at the upper end of the Service Module’s Sector 4 along with their oxygen and hydrogen reactants.

To avoid having apertures in the Command Module’s heat shield, services are carried in the external conduit shown here at the point where the two modules meet. When the Service Module is discarded, the conduit pivots away from the Command Module and a pyrotechnic-fired blade physically severs and seals the connections.

Apollo Moon Landings

This piece of olivine basalt is 3.3 billion years old and is part of a 10kg rock collected by astronaut David Scott during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971. All of the samples collected by the Apollo program were sealed so that they have never been in contact with the Earth’s atmosphere–the Science Museum’s sample is in an optical glass prism filled with nitrogen.

Apollo 15 was the fourth manned mission and the first to employ the battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicle which enabled the astronauts to explore more extensively. It was also the first of the J-missions, with a longer stay on the Moon than before. Four extravehicular activities totalling eighteen and a half hours were carried out and 77 kg of samples collected during Apollo 15.

Between 1969 and 1972 six Apollo missions successfully landed on the Moon, resulting in twelve astronauts walking on the lunar surface.

Rocketdyne J-2

The J-2 rocket engine was used on the Saturn IB and Saturn V launch vehicles. Using cryogenic hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants, each engine produced 1,033.1 kN of thrust in a vacuum.

The more powerful F-1 engines powered the first stage of the Saturn V, but five J-2 rockets propelled the second stage with a burn time of 395 seconds.

Unlike most rockets of its time, the J-2 was designed to be restarted after it had shutdown. This was essential for the third stage where an initial burn lasting about two minutes carried the spacecraft to low Earth orbit, followed by a 6.5 minute burn for trans-lunar injection.

Soyuz Descent Module

The Museum’s exhibit is the TMA-19M Descent Module, which is the third generation of a design that dates back to 1966. This capsule carried British astronaut Tim Peake to the International Space Station in 2015.

Soyuz “Unity” refers to both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft itself, the spacecraft consisting of three main sections.

The descent module is where cosmonauts sit during launch and re-entry. Above that, an Orbiter Module provides additional living and cargo space while in orbit as well as a toilet, but which is discarded before re-entry. The cylindrical Service Module provides propulsion and power is also discarded when no longer needed.

Roughly half of the Descent Module’s exterior is covered with heat resistant material to protect it during re-entry. Initially slowed by the atmosphere, a braking parachute is deployed, followed by the main parachute. Visitors are reminded to look up at the chute overhead, which slowed the capsule from 287km per hour to just 22km per hour. At one metre above the ground, solid-fuel retrorockets ignited to give a soft landing.

Sokol Spacesuit

This KV2 suit was worn by British astronaut Helen Sharman during the Soyuz TM-12 mission to the Mir “Peace” space station in 1991.

Sokol “Falcon” is described by its makers as a rescue suit, since it cannot be used outside the spacecraft in extravehicular activity. Rather, its function is to keep the wearer alive in case of accidental decompression of the spacecraft.

Each suit is made-to-measure and weighs about 10 kg and is very cumbersome on the ground. However, it can be worn for up to 30 hours in a pressurised environment or two hours in a vacuum.

Now thirty years old, this suit has recently undergone extensive conservation work to preserve it well beyond its expected service life. It is still rather fragile, so it is unlikely that visitors will be able to carry out the step-by-step instructions.

Lemur2 Nanosatellite

Spire Global’s Lemur-2 (Low Earth orbit Multi-Use Receiver) satellites are manufactured in Glasgow and are used for weather observation, vessel tracking and air traffic control. Measuring only 30 x 10 x 10 cm, this is a first generation model, the second generation having enlarged solar arrays.

Construction of the Lemur-2 constellation began in 2015 with additional satellites being launched every year. Operating at between 400 to 600 km altitude, they only last a few years before burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Those that remain form one of the largest commercial satellite constellations.

Space Forge Pridwen

Cardiff-based Space Forge are developing this re-usable heat shield to protect space return vehicles from the heat of re-entry.

Welsh tradition has it that Pridwen was the name of the legendary King Arthur’s shield, his spear being Rhongomiant, his knife being Carnwennan, and his sword Caledfwich (which comes to us as Excalibur through translations into Latin and Old French).

All commercial spacecraft returning to Earth use ablative heat shields that must be replaced after each flight. The only re-usable heat shield that has been operated were the silica tiles on the US Space Shuttle and these were vulnerable to damage.

Pridwen uses a high-temperature alloy to form a shield that is large enough to radiate heat without burning the material while a modified origami technique folds the shield into a compact volume.

Astroscale Docking Plate

With the space around Earth becoming ever more crowded, Astroscale is developing satellite life extension, space situational awareness, end-of-life and debris removal.

The docking plate is attached to a satellite and enables it to dock with a servicing satellite for maintenance, or to safely de-orbit it at the end of its service life.

BepiColombo

BepiColombo is a joint venture by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), this being the full-size test model.

The mission consists of two satellites launched together, but which will separate on their arrival at Mercury: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mio, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO).

The other major components shown here are: the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) which has a solar electric propulsion system using four QuinetiQ-T6 ion thrusters; and the Magnetospheric Orbiter Sunshield and Interface (MOSIF), which provides additional thermal protection to Mio.

Launched in October 2018 the mission calls for one flyby of Earth, two of Venus, and six of Mercury to act as gravity assists and BepiColombo is due to achieve Mercury orbital insertion in November 2026.

Rolls-Royce Microreactor

With its experience of building nuclear reactors for the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet, Rolls-Royce is developing reactors suitable for planetary surface habitation and spacecraft propulsion.

Compared to other power systems, such reactors are relatively small and light as well as being independent of the availability of direct sunlight, or other environmental factors. Rolls-Royce aim to have a reactor ready to send to the Moon by the early 2030s and which could have wide-ranging applications in addition to those in space.

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