Children and adults visiting the 8th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF), currently taking place at Expo Centre Sharjah until 30 April, are learning how they can survive in space – be it on the moon, a passing asteroid, or even on Earth’s neighboring planet, Mars. The Beyond Planet Earth travelling exhibition is presented by SCRF and aims to encourage children to take an interest in the exploration of the universe.

There are several sections in the travelling exhibition. The first includes an area in which life-sized and rendered models of everything used and needed in space – dating back to the time that time space exploration first began, around 60 years ago, to concepts of what might come in the next 1,000 years – are featured.

Visitors are taken on a journey that starts with a showcase of real-life space suits, astronaut’s gold visors, boots and an actual glove. The show then moves onto a giant model of the Vostok Capsule – the ship that carried Yuri Gagarin, the very first person to go into space – before making a mini stop at an automated machine that, with the press of a button unleashes the smell of the moon.

The next section touches on Life on the Moon and is depicted with a miniature model of a human settlement featuring specifically designed homes, carriers or rovers, means of storing water and other resources, as well as mini astronauts moving about on the moon’s polar crater. Then comes the Bigelow model, a house proposed by the Bigelow Aerospace company and in which humans could live, sleep, bathe and work. You’ll also find a model of a moon elevator that scientists have been working on for the past decade in this area.

The Landing on An Asteroid section comes next and showcases models of the asteroid Itokawa – the first asteroid on which a spacecraft landed safely, collecting samples to send back to Earth – and the spacecraft Hayabusa. Kids have the chance to be entertained by an interactive game, Asteroid Deflection, with the mission being to throw an earth-bound asteroid off its course using blasts, rockets and other aircraft.

Last stop is Destination Mars, where a life-sized model of the actual Mars Rover is on display, along with an edutainment game where children can learn about specific areas of the Red Planet. The exhibition also gives visitors some idea of what a space shuttle traveling to Mars and containing humans might look like, as well as explaining how the ship might work, what people’s lifestyles might be like, and what sort of duties astronauts would need to take care of in an enclosed space for a long period of time.

The Beyond Planet Earth exhibition is open from 9am to 8pm throughout the 11-day festival.

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