Australian Space Discovery Centre | Lot Fourteen | Adelaide
The Australian Space Discovery Centre (ASDC) located in Adelaide at Lot Fourteen is home to the Australian Space Agency.
Visitors to the Discovery Centre are able to explore the latest innovations in space technologies and learn about Australia’s role in expanding national and international space activities. The Discovery Centre is designed to inspire the next generation of the space workforce with stories of innovation, curiosity and technology. It’s not a space museum or play centre – it is dedicated to inspiring young people, particularly 12-25 year olds, to consider working in the exciting, and growing, space industry. Completely free to visit, they also host a free school holiday program designed for ages 3-16.
SEE WHAT’S ON DURING THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Exploring the Discovery Centre
The Australian Space Discovery Centre has four interconnected areas including a fully operational Mission Control Centre and hands-on experiences with touch screens and robots to inspire children and young people and spark their curiosity.
The Space Gallery
The Space Gallery celebrates Australia’s contemporary work and excellence in the space sector. The exhibition includes 20 experiences across four different zones.
To Space – Explore Australia’s expertise in aerospace and cutting-edge propulsion systems.
On Orbit – Discover the unique challenges and opportunities of operating in space.
Space for Australia – Learn about Australia’s contributions to the global space industry and how space impacts our everyday life.
Beyond Earth – Discover how Australia’s expertise in remote operations will benefit future human spaceflight.
Careers and Information Hub
The Careers and Information Hub challenges ideas about space careers. It connects visitors with paths to space jobs with a focus on STEM. The hub also covers other space disciplines including art, history, law, and diplomacy.
The Careers and Information Hub provides opportunities for self-learning as well as staff-guided discovery.
Mission Control Centre and Theatrette
The Mission Control Theatrette is a multipurpose theatre, looking directly into the Mission Control Centre.
Saber Astronautics operates the Mission Control Centre, called the Responsive Space Operations Centre. It provides facilities to control small satellite missions with real-time control and testing.
Endeavour Room
The Endeavour Room is named after the Space Shuttle Endeavour which took Andy Thomas, an Australian-born astronaut, to space. The Endeavour Room is a place for the space sector to connect with the public. The Endeavour Room hosts programs, meetings, video conferences and events.
A short informative presentation at the beginning of the session talks about how there are all sorts of jobs that are involved in the industry – from engineers, lawyers, trainers, IT, nutritionists, visual design artists and more, that you may not have thought of – it’s not just for astronauts.
Get a peek into the Mission Control Room of Sabre Astronautics who control satellites and if you’re lucky the Flight Director may be free to do a talk as he did today.
The Space Gallery is a state of the art exhibition area with 20 experiences across 4 different zones. Here you can operate a small robotic arm as if it was on Mars; learn about what astronauts do in a day; and find out about all sorts of fascinating space related things. The interactive stations feature buttons, controllers and screens that will make any gaming fan feel at home.
All around the room there are profile boards of many different people who work in the space industry, showing info about their background, and what their job involves. It’s great to see many females represented when traditionally careers like engineering appealed to more males. This is such a great way to give young people an insight into all the many varied roles there are in the space industry which is set to employ 20,000 people.
During the South Australian school term, the Discovery Centre is open to the public for visitation.
Location:
The Australian Space Discovery Centre is located on the east end of North Terrace in Adelaide. The Lot Fourteen address is Ground Floor, McEwin Building, 364-370 North Terrace, Adelaide. VIEW OPENING HOURS HERE
SEE WHAT’S ON DURING THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
For more information and all enquiries please visit the Australian Space Discovery Centre
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently.
Image Source: photos by Play & Go / select images via Australian Space Discovery Centre website
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