space_park_preview_001027 TOULOUSE, France -- For the thrill of
space travel, plus a voyage through the history of our planet, just step inside the huge Terradome.This giant blue globe, 82 feet (25 meters) in diameter, is the latest hi-tech attraction at the science theme park called "Cité de l'Espace" (Space City). The exterior structure displays illuminated continents and shelters a smaller orb of Earth that visitors access through a spaceship mock-up.
"When [you] come in to the central exhibit, you are immersed in the darkness and surrounded by stars with Earth glowing in the middle. Its liquid magma looks exactly like what a space traveler approaching our planet would have seen 4.5 billion years ago", explains Jean-Noël Plachez, the architect who conceived this new exhibit.
In the new Terradome exhibit, our planet seems to be floating in the midst of the Universe. "Its the history of our planet seen and understood by the space technology", says Jean-Noël Plachez, the architect who conceived this new science exhibit.
By walking on a suspended circular footbridge in the darkness of space, the visitor has the same cosmic views as an astronaut orbiting the
Earth. The planet seems to be floating in the midst of the universe. Thanks to special effects, the 9-foot- (2.7-meter-) diameter rotating globe illustrates the 5 billion-year evolutionary history of our planet. A film projected from the interior of the globe illuminates its spherical surface with a sequence of changes that occurred on Earth from its creation to the present day.
"This new state-of-the-art technology is called retro-projection," says Plachez. "We could compare it to a reversed planetarium providing a global vision of our planet." They do with Earth what they do with the universe in a planetarium, but the projection happens within a globe. The system was developed in-house by its engineers, and Cité de l'espace is planning to seek a patent for it.
Once a visitor has traveled to the end of 20th century, space technology offers a new vision of the
blue planet. Real satellite images show atmospheric changes, seasonal changes in vegetation, deforestation and ocean current cycles like El Niño. The day and night cycle and updated images of illuminated cities make the globe even more realistic.The visitors' feeling of experiencing
space travel is enhanced by hi-fidelity digital headsets that provide explanations in a choice of five languages. Background music plays from hidden speakers in the dark room.Visitors, limited to 80 for each 30-minute viewing, can witness the evolution of Earth from its origin until the present time.
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"The purpose of this show is to make everybody conscious of the beauty and the fragility of our Blue Planet," says Plachez.
The huge Terradome globe, one of the newest additions to the skyline of Toulouse in southwestern France, reminds some tourists of the Epcot spherical symbol at the entrance of Disney's theme park in Orlando, Florida.
The big sphere, visible to every motorist on the Toulouse Beltway, was constructed using American technology previously employed in the building of massive grain silos.
When this new exhibit opens to the public in November, the largest space theme site in Europe expects to score even higher attendance. In the nearly three years since it first opened, more than 300,000 visitors a year have come to probe the universe at the "Cité de l'espace." That's better than the most optimistic predictions.
The park's 170 interactive exhibits, permanent elements and animations -- housed in a modern architecture building -- include displays where visitors may launch their own "virtual" satellite or "drive" via a remote command box a Mars Sojourner-like rover across the rocky terrain of an artificial area of the Red Planet.
The variety of displays and live lectures in the planetarium make the "Cité de l'Espace" a mix of education and fun especially popular with science and technology teachers, who bring classes here.
Perhaps the most spectacular setting is in the open-air park, where actual European satellites that once served as ground test mock-ups (for the ones actually launched) are displayed.
In the heart of the park, visitors walk under a 150-foot (45-meter) tall
Ariane 5 European rocket, a prototype of the largest operational commercial launcher in the world.It also possible to stroll through a huge copy of the
Russian Mir space station and discover the living conditions of the cosmonauts experience there. It's an actual training mock-up that Cité de l'Espace bought from Russia.Next February, when Mir is due to be deorbited and destroyed reentering the atmosphere; the hardware on exhibit here will become the only visible space relic of past Soviet grandeur.
The choice of the location for Space City is not a hazard. Toulouse is the cradle of Europe's aeronautics industry, hosting manufacturing giants that include Airbus, Alcatel and EADS -- the third aerospace group in the world after Boeing and Lockheed.
An added attraction for visitors: Toulouse is also the regional capital of gastronomy of the French southwest. The park's cafeteria is outstanding and reasonably priced. The menu even includes a local French delicacy: foie gras!
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