Today we rode on another heritage railway, and used it to visit the National Space Centre. There were also a couple of Uber rides, and we are living on a canal boat, so today we saw the transportation innovations of the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. However, I’m sure you’re more interested in a comparison of Russian and American Space Toilets.

Russian

American (from our trip to the Space Shuttle exhibit in LA)

You think that’s impressive, just wait until Japan gets a space program.

As well as some exhibits from the short lived British space program the Space Centre also has American and Russian stuff. There’s a Soyuz spacecraft…

… and a Gemini capsule with wheels.

This was part of an attempt to land the capsule with a giant semi rigid triangular parachute. It was not adopted in the end, but it did help to give rise to the sport of hang gliding.

A weird tower shaped like a giant sex toy…

… houses two rockets, Blue Streak and Thor-Able.

There’s a glass sided elevator that goes up alongside the Thor, so you can pretend you are an astronaut going up to a space capsule. The Blue Streak is so flimsy when it is empty they have to hang it from the roof and pressurize it so that it does not collapse under its own weight. The first attempted launch of a Thor rocket made it to an altitude of ten centimeters before it collapsed back on the launch pad and exploded, incinerating the passenger, a mouse called Minnie. The second and Thor rocket did succeed in launching a mouse into space, though, so it was a trailblazer the field in murine space exploration.

There’s a piece of moon rock…

Unlike the one in Houston, it’s behind glass so you can’t touch it.

… fashion for the discerning astronaut…

The one on the right was from the movie The Martian.

… and the Sir Patrick Moore planetarium…

Back to the Grand Central Railway.

As well as the vintage steam and diesel engines they also had beautifully maintained period stations, with old posters, memorabilia, and even piles of fake luggage.

I didn’t try the refreshments. I’m afraid they might be trying to recreate an original British Rail Sandwich.