Top 5: Reasons to visit the Science and Industry Museum this summer

Every Wednesday throughout the break, the museum’s Upper Yard hosts Skybolt 2, an enormous 30-foot rocket developed by Manchester aerospace company Starchaser. Designed to reach speeds of up to 3,200mph, the spacecraft still bears the marks of its 2017 test flight, while visitors can meet the team behind its creation and discover what it really takes to build one.

Rocket Wednesdays also bring a rotating programme of special activities, from space-themed LEGO challenges and junk percussion jams to storytelling performances from Solar Sister and draw-along workshops with We Are All Astronauts author and illustrator, Kate Pankhurst.

The museum is transforming into an intergalactic playground this summer, with free daily activities running throughout the holidays. Budding astronauts can get hands-on with rocket-themed engineering challenges, explore the forces behind flight during live science demonstrations and learn more about the incredible science that makes space travel possible.

Elsewhere, families can join a museum-wide Martian trail, following clues left by friendly extraterrestrials while uncovering fascinating objects and stories hidden across the galleries. Pop-up activities led by the museum’s expert Explainers will also appear around the site, offering curious kids the chance to experiment, build and play at various points during their visit.

For an immersive interstellar voyage like no other, step inside the museum’s blockbuster exhibition Horrible Science: Cosmic Chaos.

Bringing the much-loved BBC TV series Horrible Science to life for the first time in a large-scale exhibition, the adventure launches visitors through wormholes, onto the International Space Station and across the Solar System with interactive experiments, laugh-out-loud storytelling and even more hands-on science.

As part of the Government’s Great British Summer Savings scheme, family tickets are also discounted throughout the holidays, with adult tickets priced at £10, children’s tickets at £8.70 and under-threes going free.

One of the highlights of the programme lands on Wed 12 Aug, as the museum hosts a special celebration marking this year’s solar eclipse.

Visitors can discover what happens when the moon passes in front of the sun in a special eclipse-themed live science demo. Plus, get hands-on with celestial activities including making your own solar eclipse viewer to take home.

Alongside its summer programme, the Science and Industry Museum’s free permanent galleries offer plenty more to explore. Families can continue the fun inside the interactive Experiment gallery, dive into decades of gaming history with Power Up or experience Manchester’s industrial story in the spectacular Power Hall.

With free admission, an astronomical array of activities and something new to enjoy throughout the holidays, the Science and Industry Museum once again offers one of Manchester’s most engaging family days out over the coming weeks.