River and Rowing Museum hosts 'The Space Vault Exhibition'

The Space Vault Exhibition will start its tour around the UK and Europe at the River and Rowing Museum from July 1 after a run at the European Space Agency in Harwell.

It offers a chance to see one of the UK's largest private collections of space artifacts which include objects from NASA’s Apollo missions, the Soviet space era, and SpaceX.

Dave Scott, Apollo 15, in spacesuit umbilical featured in the exhibition (Image: River and Rowing Museum)

Visitors will travel through 11 curated stories of human space exploration using visuals and artifacts.

Highlights include Apollo 13's mission checklists, lunar dust from Apollo 15's landing site, and X-rays of Neil Armstrong’s space suit gloves.

There will also be commander Dave Scott’s spacesuit umbilical through which he communicated his first words as he stepped onto the surface of the Moon.

The exhibition also includes talks from historians of human space flight, designers of robotics for lunar exploration, and astronomers.

Steve O'Connor, director of the River and Rowing Museum, said: "We can’t wait to launch The Space Vault Exhibition at our museum.

"This unique exhibit offers an unparalleled opportunity for our visitors to experience the awe-inspiring history and future of space exploration up close and discover Oxfordshire’s importance in the UK space industry.

"Henley and the surrounding areas are rich with compelling stories and we’re committed to opening those stories up to an even broader audience.”