To the moon and back

Nina Walczak goes to the moon. Photo: Damjan Janevski

By Goya Dmytryshchak

A lifelike sculpture of the moon has landed at Scienceworks alongside a lunar virtual reality experience opening next week.

Museum of the Moon by UK artist Luke Jerram is a seven-metre luminous spherical sculpture with each centimetre representing five kilometres of actual moon surface.

It was created using high-resolution NASA imagery. It will accompany the

Earthlight: Lunar Hub experience which has been described as a cross between gaming and space exploration.

Melbourne-based outfit Opaque Space, which worked with NASA on astronaut-training, created the simulated space environment where six players walk on the moon.

It’s the first time the 40-minute experience, which involves moving about with gaming headsets and backpack PCs, has been available to the public.

Scienceworks general manager Jonathan Shearer said the experience took virtual reality to a new level.

“The graphics are so realistic, I felt like I was really walking on the moon,” he said.

“Visitors are going to be awestruck by this experience.”

Museum of the Moon and Earthlight: Lunar Hub opened on December 1 at Scienceworks, 2 Booker Street, Spotswood.

 

Goya Dmytryshchak