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Cité de l'espace

Coordinates: 43°35′13″N 1°29′35″E / 43.5869611°N 1.49316389°E / 43.5869611; 1.49316389
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Ariane 5 mock-up at Cité de l'Espace
Full-size Mir Space Station, Cité de l'Espace

The Cité de l'espace (City of Space) is a theme park oriented towards space and the conquest of space. It was inaugurated in June 1997 and is situated on the eastern outskirts of Toulouse in France. More than 4 million visitors have already visited it after 13 years of exploitation.

The park makes it possible to visit full scale models of the rocket Ariane 5 (55 metres in height), Mir space station, and Soyuz modules. A 140 seat and a 280 seat planetarium presents spectacles throughout the day. Cité de l'Espace is also equipped with numerous exhibits, often interactive, for example, the control room close to the model of Ariane 5, makes it possible to prepare the launching of a rocket, help with its flight and then place a satellite in orbit! Terradome (a terrestrial half-sphere 25 m in diameter) presents the history of the space from the Big-bang to the solar system. The building of Australia, opened in 2005, includes a new 280 seat planetarium, equipped with a hemispherical screen of 600 m ², an IMAX cinema presenting Space Station 3D, a 3D film on board the International Space Station, the Stellarium, and conference rooms.

History

  • June 1997  : Inauguration of the Cité de l'espace by Dominique Baudis, deputy mayor of Toulouse, and Claudie Haigneré, cosmonaut and godmother of the park.
  • July 1998  : Inauguration of the full scale Mir Space Station.
  • September 2000 : The millionth visitor is welcomed to the Cité.
  • October 2000  : Inauguration of the Terr@dome.
  • October 2002  : Inauguration of a permanent exposition hall dedicated to Mars.
  • July 2003  : Start point of the 13th stage of the Tour de France.
  • October 2003  : The Cité is officially designated a "Tourisme et Handicap" site for the four types of handicap (mental, visual, motor, hearing).
  • April 2005  : Inauguration of "Astralia - le 6ème continent", (the 6th continent), notably housing the new planetarium and the IMAX cinema.
  • May 2006  : Inauguration of a space specially dedicated to children, "la Base des Enfants".

Some figures

  • 200 000 visitors in 2004
  • Park area: 3.5 hectares
  • 2000 m² exhibition space
  • 2 planetariums of 140 and 280 seats, 15 and 20 m in diameter respectively.
This page was translated and adapted from the French Wikipedia

43°35′13″N 1°29′35″E / 43.5869611°N 1.49316389°E / 43.5869611; 1.49316389

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