The public will be able to enter the Connect gallery from February 17 (space suit not necessary). Courtesy Royal Museum of Scotland
The star exhibit of the Royal Museum’s new £1m science and technology gallery, Connect, will be a 1950s Black Knight Rocket.
Staff are now putting the finishing touches to the Blast Off section of the gallery, which explores space and rocket technology, before Connect opens to the public on February 17 2006.
One of NASA’s Gemini space capsules will also be on show and visitors will have the chance to try on a space suit and fire a small rocket for themselves.
“The Black Knight rocket and the Gemini space capsule are two extremely impressive exhibits which show the links between science, space travel and history,” said Dr Gordon Rintoul, Director of National Museums Scotland.
“When combined with some lively interactive displays and informative exhibits they make a highly exciting section of a gallery which is dedicated to learning about science in a lively, fun environment.”
Try on a space suit for size in the Blast Off section. Courtesy Royal Museum of Scotland
The Black Knight rocket was part of the research programme that ultimately led to the Blue Streak missile, although that project was cancelled in 1960. The rockets were used in other test programmes after that, and the last one was fired in 1965.
Standing 11 metres high (36ft), the rocket stretches through three floors and has been under protective wraps since a crane lifted it into the museum in late 2005.
The Connect gallery will also look at topics including energy and power, genetics, transport and robots, featuring iconic objects and lots of interactive displays.
The gallery has scooped several more major exhibits including Dolly the Sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, and Freddie the Robot, the world’s first thinking robot, built in the early 1970s at the University of Edinburgh.
More pioneering spirit is represented by Wilam Dilly, one of the two oldest surviving railway locomotives in the world, built in 1813. Visitors can compare this 200-year-old technology with an SF-2 Formula 1 racing car from Jackie Stewart’s Stewart Ford team.
