The Space Museum

Since it opened in 1996, the Space Museum, located at the entrance of the Guiana Space Centre, has played host to an increasing number of visitors, including many school and student groups.

In addition to Space activities, the museum also embraces a wider scientific and technical culture.  The museum's curators are in constant contact with many of France's major scientific and technical museums (such as the Palais de la Découverte in Paris, the Cité de l'Espace  in Toulouse and the Cité des Sciences in La Villette),  as well as with the CCSTI network of scientific, technical and industrial culture centres.  This ensures that they are kept informed about any special exhibitions and events organised by these establishments.

School groups are regularly welcomed to the museum, where interactive exercises help them learn the basic principles of physics, electrostatics, the planets and stars – even our five senses.  These are obviously tailored to the age of the students and the subject areas defined by the teachers according to the school syllabus.  For instance, one recent presentation on electrostatics from the Palais de la Découverte enabled both students and teachers to discover this particular branch of science, by participating in exercises and experiments, still the best way to learn the basic principles.

In 2005, the Space Museum received 18,167 visitors, of whom 5,590 were schoolchildren.