Beyond Earth’s Boundaries: An Expanded Exhibition of Space Exploration

M.A.: Expanded Media, Immersive Installation

You are visiting the Technik Museum Speyer to learn about the Apollo missions when a little robot notices your potential to become an astronaut. It tells you that it needs your help with an important task: to land a man on the Moon. Now, together with the A.I. known as M.O.R.G.A.N., you will get a chance to go back in time and meet Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and JoAnn Morgan, and assist them in completing the greatest mission of the 20th century! Can you achieve this goal and land the first man on the Moon?

Objective
This Master’s project is about the creation of a concept for an exhibition on the Apollo 11 mission designed for children aged ten to twelve. It is customized for use at the space exhibition “Apollo and Beyond” in the Technik Museum Speyer.

The main goal of the project is to develop a concept for an interactive and educational experience which is tailored to the target group. The museum visitors should gain an insight into the topic of space exploration and also learn about the Apollo mission in an engaging and playful way. The idea is not for them to learn as much as possible in a short amount of time, but rather to steadily teach them, pique their interest, and spark their enthusiasm in the subject.

Scientific Education for Children
The project concept is based on intensive research, beginning with facts about the Apollo mission and the requirements of a museum. However, since the overall goal was to inspire children, it was especially crucial to research their interests and ways of learning. In order to achieve this, interviews were conducted with an astronomy and physics teacher, an employee of the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO), and the technical manager of a planetarium, all people who devote themselves to children’s education and the conveyance of scientific content.

After completing the research, a concept for an interactive exhibition was created using the knowledge gained from the previous steps. A special focus was placed on storytelling, which is the heart of the experience, and the interactive story guides the visitors through the experience while ensuring that they feel immersed in what is happening and thus retain interest.

With the integration of modern technology combined with visitor involvement and interactive components, we were able to create a final concept that was subsequently converted into various prototypes. The final step of the project encompassed thoughts on how the concept could be realized.