Designing for Mars

What will it be like to live on Mars? To have a beer on the Red Planet? How will we survive the 200 million mile trip? Should we go there at all? All these questions are answered in the incredibly immersive exhibition Moving to Mars, which just opened in the Design Museum in London. It invites visitors to discover the role that design plays in humanity’s journey to the Red Planet. Over 150 exhibits tell the complete story of designing for Mars, including original objects and material from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), SpaceX, Raymond Loewy and Foster & Partners. It is the first time that the London Design Museum enlisted the help of experience designers in the development of an exhibition. Dutch creative agencies NorthernLight and Fabrique designed the complete visitor experience.

The highlight of the exhibition is a multi-sensory installation, called ‘On Mars Today’. It is a large panorama of different Martian landscapes, with superimposed infographics. Real photographs from NASA’s Curiosity Rover are augmented with sound and visual effects. The floor resembles the surface of Mars and the room even has a specially created Martian smell. NorthernLight and Fabrique worked with Mars expert Prof. Sanjeev Gupta from Imperial College London, to make sure that all information is scientifically accurate. Other notable experiences in the exhibition are the entrance, featuring a soundtrack composed by Blur and an interactive wall, inviting visitors to answer the question: ‘Should we go to Mars or not?’. The exhibition also explores the fashion side of the journey. On display are high-fashion clothing items that the Martian pioneers might be wearing and visitors can try on the Raeburn designed clothing using material designed by NASA for space exploration. The exhibition is also appealing to children. A ‘Mars Mission’ takes children aged 8+ through a series of design briefs set by design and space specialists, including ESA astronaut Tim Peake.