LONDON, July 19 (Reuters) - It may have been one giant leap for mankind but British schoolchildren aren't very clear on when Neil Armstrong made his historic moon walk and they're a bit shaky on the mechanics of the universe.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the first lunar landing, London's Science Museum surveyed 480 children between the ages of 10 and 12 on their ``space knowledge.''
The museum said on Monday that 40 percent of them thought the Apollo 11 mission touched down on the moon before the death of Britain's Queen Victoria in 1901 or the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.
Their grasp of Italian scientist Galileo's theories wasn't much better -- 30 percent believed the Sun revolves around the Earth.
And if the museum fails to bring British children up to scratch on the wonders of the universe, it may be up to beings from another world -- 40 percent of the students said they believed in aliens.
advertisement
