Samsung’s Gear VR is being used to tour the ISS, otherwise known as the International Space Station, by way of a collaboration between Samsung and the Science Museum Group. The partnership between the two kicks off with a tour of different museums across the British Isles, starting with the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, then moving on to Shildon, followed by York, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and finally finishing up the tour in Belfast.
For Samsung’s part, Space Descent VR will be the experience that people can dive into using the Gear VR headset, which will be on display at each museum where the tour is scheduled to stop. The experience begins with placing the viewer in the middle of the International Space Station before following Tim Peake’s journey back to earth, providing an up close and personal view of the ISS and space travel. In addition to viewing the descent from the International Space Station, viewers at the museum will also be able to get an up close look at the Soyuz spacecraft that was used for Tim Peake’s Principia mission, which will also be making the rounds at the above-mentioned locations.
For its first stop, The National Tour Of Tim Peake’s Spacecraft will arrive in Bradford from tomorrow, Wednesday September 27th, and continue to be on display with Space Descent VR through Sunday November 19th. The tour will then move to the Locomotion in Shildon on November 27th until January 15th of next year, then the National Railway Museum in York from January 17th until March 8th, The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester from March 10th to May 13th, The National Museum Scotland in Edinburgh from May to August, with a small break before moving to the National Museum Wales in Cardiff from November of 2018 to January of 2019 and the National Museum Ulster in Belfast from February 2019 to May 2019. While there is a break in between the Edinburgh and Cardiff stops, this is only because the tour is looking for a venue to be the sixth destination, and is asking any interested venues to apply via an online competition form next Fall. While entry into each museum may have an associated cost, viewing the tour of Tim Peake’s Spacecraft will be free, with a cost of £5 to £6 for the Space Descent VR experience for those that are interested.