Birmingham Space Exhibition Brings Moon Missions to Life
As NASA’s Artemis II prepares for a risky splashdown, curator Michael Warner shows how visitors can get closer to the story of human space exploration
Birmingham is offering a rare glimpse into space history with the Space Vault Exhibition at Thinktank Science Museum, featuring one of the UK’s largest private collections of space artefacts.
Michael Warner, the exhibition’s curator and an environmental scientist by training, has spent 15 years collecting objects that have flown around the Moon, landed on its surface, or been part of historic Apollo missions.
“Standing in front of these objects, you realise you’re looking at the real thing,” Warner said. “It’s the closest that anyone on Earth — other than the astronauts themselves — will ever get to seeing something that’s flown to the Moon.”
The exhibition coincides with NASA’s Artemis II mission, which is due to splash down off San Diego later today. Warner described the landing as “probably the riskiest part of the mission,” comparing the tension to the famous Apollo 13 re-entry.
Warner explained how the exhibition brings the science and technology of space exploration to life. “For young people, it’s about inspiration and understanding careers in the growing UK space sector. And for everyone, it’s a chance to connect with the history of human space travel.”
Among his favourite items in the collection is a communications cable from Apollo 15, which visitors can see in a photograph of commander Dave Scott walking on the Moon. “Even today, I’ll walk up to it and just look at it. I’m in awe that I’m staring at something that has been on the Moon’s surface,” Warner said.
Warner’s passion began as a child watching the Apollo 11 landing. “I saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on a black-and-white TV in my primary school assembly. That image stuck with me, and years later I started collecting space artefacts for the exhibition,” he said.
The exhibition remains in Birmingham until the end of May before moving to Henley-on-Thames. Warner expressed gratitude to the Birmingham Museums Trust for helping bring his private collection to the public.
“This is about humans connecting with humans,” he said. “There’s a whole cross-section of humanity flying around the Moon right now. If you can’t get excited about that, I feel sorry for you.”