China has certainly been making its growing power and influence felt in recent years, especially when it comes to the realm of space exploration and s

Shanghai is About to Open the World’s Largest Astronomy Museum

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2021-07-19 08:00:06

China has certainly been making its growing power and influence felt in recent years, especially when it comes to the realm of space exploration and science. In the past ten years alone, China has deployed the three space stations with their Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) program, unveiled the Long March 5 heavy launch rocket, and sent robotic missions to the far side of the Moon and the surface of Mars.

Here on Earth, facilities like the Five hundred meter Aperture Space Telescope (FAST) illustrate China’s growing accomplishments in space and astronomy. And on Friday (July 16th), the largest museum in the world dedicated to the study of space – the Shanghai Astronomy Museum – will open its doors. The purpose and design of this museum is to highlight China’s accomplishments in space and astronomy, as well as the country’s future ambitions in space.

The design was conceived by Ennead Architects, a firm with offices in New York and Shanghai that won an international competition in 2014 for their inspired creation. Their previous work includes New York’s Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). At 39,000 m2 (420,000 ft2), this new branch of the Shanghai Science of Technology Museum (SSTM) will be the largest of its kind in the world.