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This space-themed Science Museum exhibit description has an unexpected twist

Oonagh Keating. Updated February 8th, 2021

London’s Science Museum is a dream come true for anyone interested in space travel, with available activities including a Virtual Reality space descent with astronaut Tim Peake, overnight space-themed visits for schools and an IMAX film on repairs to the Hubble Telescope. So, there must be very strong competition for exhibits to make it into the display cases, which is why this one might seem a little puzzling – at first.

In case that sign isn’t clear, it says:

“This model was made by a 12-year-old boy. He followed the Apollo missions on television and then built kits of the spacecraft on the kitchen table.

The lunar surface of this model is light blue because he had no grey paint. The model’s descent stage was similarly painted a misleading black and white but was later improved with foil wrappers from a well-known brand of chocolate. The boy now works as Curator of the Museum’s Space Technology Collection.”

The marvellous item and description were spotted by Project Curator at that same museum, Glyn Morgan, who shared it with this comment.

The tweet has had a lot more attention than Glyn expected, with some people adding to the story and some simply loving the ride.

https://twitter.com/BooksAndGuts/status/1090684149751578624

https://twitter.com/simonianbrown/status/1090648861088120837

Here’s a closer look at Doug Millard – museum curator and model maker extraordinaire.

He has every reason to look pleased with life. As one person commented,

In case you want a closer look at Doug’s model, there are more views here.

H/T: Glyn Morgan