The real purpose of the trip to Brisbane was to visit the NASA 50th anniversary exhibition “The Human Adventure”.  We set off bright and early, heading across the river to Southbank, for our 10am admission slot.  The website advised to allow 90 minutes to see everything.  Four hours later …

It was amazing.  It told the story of the very early days of space exploration, from visionary dreamers such as Jules Verne, through the Space Race of the 1950s and 60s, the moon landings, Skylab, the ISS, and the Space Shuttle.  The exhibition covered four huge rooms, full of artefacts (some of which had even been to the moon or flown in space), iconic photos, fascinating facts, exacting replicas and scale models.

Ian was excited to be able to take detailed photos of the entire Saturn V rocket with its lunar and command modules, for his Lego build. I loved all the side details like what they ate and what a space suit looks like under the outer layer; and the stunning photographs which told incredible stories of bravery.  How peculiar it must have felt to drive a lunar rover across the moon’s surface, knowing you were one of only a small handful of people to have ever been there, and knowing how completely reliant you were on the technology of the time. As Ian said, the “blue screen of death” on a computer, literally meant just that.  How did they avoid getting completely wrapped up in the spectacle, or from completely freaking out by the isolation?

Afterwards we strolled along Southbank, crossed back via the funky pedestrian bridge, and put our feet up back at the hotel, after 6 hours of standing and walking. Tomorrow we fly home to wintry Melbourne.