Museum exhibition probes possibility of life in space

This marks the very first time the museum has hosted an exhibition dedicated to space exploration in its 144-year history.

With more than 60 objects on display, including fragments of rock from the Moon and Mars, it reveals the efforts of space agencies around the world to search for potential habitable worlds and signs of past life in our Solar System.

The exhibition features interactive experiences and hands-on activities, including smell pods that recreate the aromas of space and games that reveal the fundamental building blocks of life.

Visitors will inspect a scale model of ESA’s Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover, which will look beneath the surface of the Red Planet for signs of past life. The rover will drill up to two metres below the surface to sample martian soil, analyse its composition and search for preserved deposits of organic molecules.

Also on show in the exhibition is a model of ESA’s Juice mission, which is an interplanetary spacecraft currently on its way to Jupiter to study its ocean-bearing icy moons: Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.

Juice aims to unravel several key mysteries about the Jupiter system, including investigating whether it has ever harboured the conditions and substances necessary for sustaining biological organisms.

David Parker, ESA’s scientific advisor for the exhibition, says, “It has been a pleasure to support the Museum’s team in designing this fascinating exhibition. The opportunity to understand both the science and the engineering of the search for life plus the chance to literally touch a piece of Mars makes this an attraction not to be missed.”

Caroline Smith, lead scientist for the exhibition, says, “Space exploration has captured our imagination since humans walked the Earth. From cave art to Buzz Lightyear, the mystery of what lies beyond Earth is too tantalising to ignore - and today there is more evidence than ever before that life could exist beyond Earth. Informed by the latest findings from space missions and using the data held in our world-leading meteorite collection, we are simply over the moon to share with you what we know so far about the search for life in space.”

Doug Gurr, Director of the Natural History Museum, says, “With every mission sent into space we are reminded that here on Earth we have a very precise and complex set of conditions that has led to biodiversity so abundant it’s estimated that we know of less than one quarter of species in the natural world. We must act now to protect and celebrate life on Earth for a future where people and planet thrive."

“Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?” is on display at the Natural History Museum, London, from 16 May 2025 to 22 February 2026, with entry from 10:00 to 16:30 daily. You can book your tickets online.