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Space

Explore iconic objects including a three-billion-year-old piece of the Moon, the Soyuz descent module and the Apollo 10 command module.

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Moon rock

Moon rock

Omega Speedmaster watch

Omega Speedmaster watch

1960s
Apollo fuel cell power plant

Apollo fuel cell power plant

1972
Instrument panel from 1 of 3 Apollo Command Module simulators

Instrument panel from 1 of 3 Apollo Command Module simulators

1966
BepiColombo Structural Thermal Model

BepiColombo Structural Thermal Model

2015
Main parachute in bag from Soyuz descent module TMA-19M

Main parachute in bag from Soyuz descent module TMA-19M

2015
Prototype beam splitter for the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (aLIGO)

Prototype beam splitter for the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (aLIGO)

2008 (prototype)
RL10 engine

RL10 engine

1962
Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 Lightweight Headset

Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 Lightweight Headset

1965
Apollo Survival Radio

Apollo Survival Radio

1970
Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism

Solar-electric thruster with pointing mechanism

2015
Satellite docking plate for use in on-orbit servicing of spacecraft by Astroscale

Satellite docking plate for use in on-orbit servicing of spacecraft by Astroscale

2024
Early thruster prototype for satellites by Magdrive

Early thruster prototype for satellites by Magdrive

2024
Early thruster prototype for satellites by Magdrive

Early thruster prototype for satellites by Magdrive

2020
Early thruster prototype for satellites by Magdrive

Early thruster prototype for satellites by Magdrive

2022
Lower Handling Adaptor for Full Size Black Arrow Rocket Third Stage Booster

Lower Handling Adaptor for Full Size Black Arrow Rocket Third Stage Booster

1971
Sokol Space Suit

Sokol Space Suit

1991
J2 rocket engine as used on the Saturn V rocket second stage and third stage

J2 rocket engine as used on the Saturn V rocket second stage and third stage

1966
LEMUR2 v4.4 nanosatellite by Spire Global

LEMUR2 v4.4 nanosatellite by Spire Global

November 2020
Soyuz TMA-19M Descent Module, S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Public Corporation “Energia”

Soyuz TMA-19M Descent Module, S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Public Corporation “Energia”

2015
Yuri Gagarin statue after Anatoly Novikov, 2010. This is a replica of a 1984 statue by Anatoly Novikov at the Technical College in Lyubertsy, Russia, where Gagarin trained. The display of this statue and 'Gagarin in Britain' exhibition (2011) were organised by Roscosmos and the British Council to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the First Manned Space Flight, and the life of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the early Soviet space programme.

Statue of Yuri Gagarin after Anatoly Novikov, 2010

2010 (original 1984)
Recovery Antenna for Soyuz TMA-19M descent module, S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Public Corporation “Energia”, Russia, 2015. This antenna pops out just as the descent module lands and is used as a location beacon in case of landing off course.

Recovery Antenna for Soyuz TMA-19M descent module

2015
Mission patch for Magdrive's 'Going Rogue' mission to test their new thruster in space. Children from the UK were invited by the Science Museum and Magdrive to design a patch for the new 'Going Rogue' mission. The winning design was by Troy, aged 12, who won the competition in 2025. The thruster travelled on the satellite 'Ion'. Over 1,500 children entered the competition.

Mission patch for Magdrive's 'Going Rogue' test mission

2025
Upper Handling Adaptor (or ring) for Full size Black Arrow rocket third stage booster, code named 'Waxwing'.

Upper Handling Adaptor for Full Size Black Arrow Rocket Third Stage Booster

1971
Black Arrow rocket third stage booster, code named 'Waxwing', 1971. The Waxwing rocket motor, named after the bird of the same name, was the first of its kind in British rocketry. its near-spherical form enabled the smallest amount of steel casing to be used for a given amount of solid propellant. Its nozzle was also gently arced in a near 'Rau' design, not previously used in Britain, to improve its performance.

Black Arrow third stage booster, 1971

1971
This is an engineering model for the LEV-2 lunar rover which landed on the Moon as part of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon) mission in January 2023. It was designed by Japanese toy company Takara Tomy and marks the first time ever there has been a collaboration between a toy company and a space agency for a mission. This engineering model was designed to test the rovers movement on the surface of Moon.

LEV-2 Autonomous Lunar Robot engineering model

2023
Rolls-Royce concept model of nuclear micro-reactor for Space applications.

Model

February 2023
Satellite turntable from full size Black Arrow rocket, as used on third stage booster, 'Waxwing'.

Full size Black Arrow satellite turntable

1971
Apollo 10 command module, call sign 'Charlie Brown', by North American Rockwell Corporation, Downey, California, United States, 1969. Apollo 10, carrying astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan, was launched in May 1969 on a lunar orbital mission as the dress rehearsal for the actual Apollo 11 landing. Stafford and Cernan descended in the Lunar Module to within 14 kilometres of the surface of the Moon, the closest approach until Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin in Apollo 11 landed on the surface two months later.

Apollo 10 Command Module, Call Sign 'Charlie Brown'

1969
Space Forge's 'Pridwen' satellite heat shield prototype is designed to protect satellites on the punishing return through the atmosphere and back to Earth. This prototype primarily tested the deployment of the heat shield. The shield is folded up and stowed on a satellite as it launches and operates in orbit around Earth. As the satellite prepares to return to Earth, the heat shield, the design of which is inspired by origami, unfurls and faces the Earth, entering the atmosphere at an angle which protects the satellite, allowing it to be retrieved from the ocean in tact. The heat shield is also designed to be reusable.

'Pridwen' satellite heat shield prototype by Space Forge

2022
Black Arrow payload fairing without nose cap (2 of 2), 1971. This is the second of two payload fairing 'doors' which housed the payload within. These doors would separate at the correct moment in space to allow for the payload to be put into Earth's orbit.

Black Arrow payload fairing (2 of 2), 1971

1971
Black Arrow payload fairing with silver nose cap (1 of 2), 1971. This is one of two payload fairing 'doors' which housed the payload within. These doors would separate at the correct moment in space to allow for the payload to be put into Earth's orbit.

Black Arrow payload fairing (1 of 2), 1971

1971
X3 'Prospero' satellite, flight spare, designed and made by British Aircraft Corporation, Bristol, England, 1971.

X3 satellite 'Prospero'

1971