Aerospace Bristol announces Journey to Mars exhibition featuring Mars by Luke Jerram

Visitors will have the chance to see the incredible Mars sculpture on display alongside the last Concorde ever to fly, and learn about the European Space Agency’s Mars Express mission to the Red Planet.

Aerospace Bristol has announced that the museum will host Luke Jerram’s Mars as part of a new Journey to Mars exhibition. From Friday 4 May to Monday 5 June the artwork will be stunningly displayed alongside the last Concorde ever to fly.

The temporary exhibition marks the 20th anniversary of Mars Express, Europe’s first mission to Mars, with models of the Mars Express Orbiter and the Beagle 2 lander on display alongside Luke Jerram’s Mars sculpture.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, Mars features detailed NASA imagery of the Martian surface. At an approximate scale of 1:1 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 10 kilometres of the surface of Mars.

Visitors will have the chance to view Mars from the air, as though they are a satellite, mapping and studying the surface in perfect detail, with every valley, crater, volcano and mountain laid bare to inspect.

Alongside Mars, the exhibition will feature a model of the Mars Express Orbiter and a full-scale model of Beagle 2, the UK-built, Mars lander, that was successfully deployed from Mars Express in 2003. Led by Bristol born scientist, Colin Pillinger, the Beagle 2 was intended to carry out an astrobiology mission that would have looked for evidence of life on Mars.

Amy Seadon, Head of Collections, Learning and Interpretation at Aerospace Bristol, said:

“Aerospace Bristol can’t wait to mark the 20th anniversary of Mars Express and highlight Bristol’s important contribution to the European Space Agency’s first ever planetary mission. It’s a fascinating story, the Mars artwork is going to look incredible alongside Concorde, and I think visitors will love exploring the surface of Mars as if they were looking down at the planet from the Mars Express Orbiter!”

Artist Luke Jerram said:

“Mars follows on from my other touring astronomical artworks Museum of the Moon and Gaia, and allows a close encounter with the Martian planet. I hope that visitors will feel transported to its inhospitable desert wasteland and in comparison, really value our life on Earth.”

Entry to the Journey to Mars exhibition is included with museum admission from 4th May to 5th June. Tickets to Aerospace Bristol are valid for free return visits for 12 months after they are first used.

Alongside Journey to Mars, Aerospace Bristol has also announced a packed spring programme of events and activities, including Mother’s Day lunch under Concorde, a new Red Arrows simulator arriving in time for the Easter holidays, the chance to meet a Red Arrows pilot, and a Father’s Day Car Show.