Hong Kong Space Museum

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香港太空館

Transliterations
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin:	Xiānggǎng Tàikōng Guǎn
Yue (Cantonese)
- Jyutping:	hoeng1 gong2 tai3 hung1 gwun2
- IPA:	hœːŋ₅₅ kɔːŋ₃₅ tʰaːi₃₃ hʊŋ₅₅ kʷuːn₃₅

The Hong Kong Space Museum is a museum for astronomy and space science in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. It is currently managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. The museum is next to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Hong Kong Museum of Art.

The museum has a unique egg-shaped dome that covers more than 8000sq. meters, which rendered it to be one of the most famous landmarks in Hong Kong. It was the first local planetarium for the popularisation of astronomy and space science.

It comprises two wings - east and west. The former, the planetarium's nucleus, has an egg-shaped dome structure. Beneath it are the Stanley Ho Space Theatre, the Hall of Space Science, workshops and offices. The west wing houses the Hall of Astronomy, the Lecture Hall, the Gift Shop and offices.

[edit] History

The idea of a planetarium was originally proposed in 1961 by the Urban Council of Hong Kong. Ten years later, the Urban Services Department (USD) set up a working group to study overseas experience in establishing planetariums. The study was aimed at laying the groundwork for setting up the future Hong Kong Space Museum. The Hong Kong Government decided to build the museum at Tsim Sha Tsui and invited Mr. Joseph Liu to serve as Planetarium Advisor.

In 1974, The USD signed contract with the Carl Zeiss Company to purchase a planetarium and other equipment with a price of HK$3,050,000.

Its construction commenced in 1977 by Urban Council and was opened on 8 October 1980.

[edit] Exhibition halls

Hong Kong Space Museum has two thematic exhibition halls: the Hall of Space Science and the Hall of Astronomy on the ground and first floors respectively. The exhibits, predominantly interactive, enable visitors to learn through a series of entertaining and educational experiences.