The Design Museum has announced a new exhibition, 'Moving to Mars,' that will explore how sending humans to Mars is not just a new frontier for science but also for design.
Over 150 exhibits including original objects and material from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), SpaceX, Raymond Loewy, Chesley Bonestell plus new commissions from responsible design company RÆBURN, Anna Talvi and Konstantin Grcic will tell the complete story of designing for Mars.
"On the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, we are entering a new space age, with Mars once again capturing the popular imagination," said Justin McGuirk, Chief Curator at the Design Museum. "As a museum interested in emergent futures, we are keen to explore how designing for space can help us design for Earth."
The exhibition will feature two major installations enabling visitors to get closer to life on Mars: 'On Mars Today', a multisensory experience of the Red Planet and a full-scale prototype habitat by international design firm Hassell.
The exhibition will also tackle The Voyage, looking at the role designers play in the journey. From food trays by NASA to Galina Balashova's designs for Russian space interiors from 1964 to 1980, to Raymond Loewy's design work for space stations and - exhibited for the first time - the NDX-1 spacesuit, designed specifically for the surface of Mars by the University of North Dakota. The challenges of dining in space are addressed in a newly commissioned spacecraft table by German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, inspired by the constraints imposed by zero gravity.
Image: Mars Habitat by HASSELL studio
more: designmuseum.org (139)