A 23-foot-wide replica of the Moon was unveiled at Gateway of India for public viewing to celebrate 70 years of the British Council in India on February 3, 2018. It is half a million times smaller than the real celestial body. British artist Luke Jerram is the man behind this historical creation. The replica has been created using imagery from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.

The Museum of the Moon, as it is titled is a scale model where each centimeter represents 5 square kilometers of the moon’s surface. The main idea behind this creation is to give the audiences a feel of the Earth’s only satellite where man first landed successfully on July 20, 1969. The Museum of the Moon comes a year before the golden jubilee of this momentous landing accomplished by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin.

Since its launch in 2016, the artwork has travelled to countries such as France, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong, Dubai, etc. It has been exposed to both indoor and outdoor spaces. It took nearly six months for Jerram to create the moon. “The moon acts as a cultural mirror. It has inspired a range of myths around the world. It has been interpreted as deity, planet, timekeeper and calendar. Different cultures have their own historical, cultural, scientific and religious relationships to the moon,” Jerram was quoted in a media report.

Alan Gemmell OBE, director at British Council said, “In India, we wanted the artwork display to coincide with the Super Blue Blood Moon occurrence.”

The Museum of the Moon featured space-themed lectures on topics like: Women in Space, Life Beyond Earth: Prospects and Possibilities, Going Back to the Moon and Landing on a Comet with participation of top British scientists including Prof. Monica Gardy, Professor of Planetary and Space Science, Open University. Arriving in Mumbai from Bangalore, the Museum of the Moon will next move to New Delhi and Kolkata audiences, said a spokesperson for British Council here.

Apart from the arched monument, the Mumbaikars are enjoying observing and clicking pictures along with this giant replica with craters, suspended mid-air in front of the landmark.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 05, 2018 11:02 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).