Ever since I was a child, I have a fascination for everything going on beyond our own planet. From space travel and the possibilities of alien life (X-Philes, raise your hands!), to learning all about our solar system, if it was somehow related to space, I was interested in it.
After working as an ambassador for space experience company Space Nation (where I did an astronaut training in Iceland and interviewed a real astronaut), and with my dad digging up his old space collection (including a Neil Armstrong autograph!), a lot of my childhood passion for space has returned – and I want to discover more about this topic.
That is why I’ve set myself the goal to find – and complete – 100 of the world’s top space experiences, ranging from activities that help train your astronaut skills, to visiting amazing space centers, observatories and planetariums, but also discovering moon landscapes and visiting the best archaeoastronomical and stargazing sites and events.
I hope you will join me on this adventure!
– Nienke
Follow along:
Interested in becoming a partner?
WORLD’S TOP 100 SPACE EXPERIENCES
UNCOMPLETED・COMPLETED
01. Adult Space Camp – Huntsville, Alabama, USA
02. ZERO-G Weightless Experience – Las Vegas (and other locations), USA
03. Astronaut Expedition – Iceland
04. Drive a Moon/Mars Rover
05. Watch a Rocket Launch
06. Visit European Space Agency (ESA) – Noordwijk, The Netherlands
07. Visit Yuri A Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center – Moscow Oblast, Russia
08. Stay in a POD Hotel in Japan
09. Stay at the Henn na “Robot” Hotel – Nagasaki, Japan
10. Go on Mission: SPACE – Epcot, Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, USA
11. Kennedy Space Center – Merritt Island, Florida, USA
12. Virginia Air and Space Center – Hampton, Virginia, USA
13. NASA Goddard Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
14. NASA Glenn Visitor Center at Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio
15. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum – New York City, New York, USA
16. Space Center Houston – Houston, Texas, USA
17. Cité de l’Espace – Toulouse, France
18. JAXA Tsukuba Space Center – Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, Japan
19. Space Expo – Noordwijk, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands
20. Euro Space Center – Transinne, Belgium
21. The Exploration Museum – Húsavík, Iceland
22. National Space Centre – Leicester, England, United Kingdom
23. Space Museum TeNQ – Tokyo, Japan
24. Science Museum – London, England, United Kingdom
25. Glasgow Science Centre – Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
26. Life Science Centre – Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom
27. U.S. Space and Rocket Center – Huntsville, Alabama, USA
28. American Space Museum & Walk of Fame – Titusville, Florida, USA
29. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum & Planetarium – Washington, DC, USA
30. Hong Kong Space Museum – Hong Kong, China
31. Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics – Moscow, Russia
32. Heureka – Vantaa, Finland
33. Museon, Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands
34. NEMO Science Museum – Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
35. Follow the Dark Skies Trail – New Mexico, USA
36. Take an Astro Photography Course
37. Attend the Jasper Dark Sky Festival – Jasper, Alberta, Canada
38. Attend the National Parks Dark Skies Festival – England, United Kingdom
39. Attend the Death Valley Dark Sky Festival – Death Valley, California, USA
40. Attend the Sequoia Parks Dark Sky Festival – Three Rivers, California, USA
41. Attend Yuri’s Night Event – Los Angeles, USA
42. Go on an Astronomy Cruise
43. See the Astronomical Clock – Prague, Czech Republic
44. See a Lunar Eclipse
45. See a Solar Eclipse
46. See the Northern Lights
47. See the Southern Lights
48. Visit Roswell Visitors Center – Roswell, New Mexico, USA
49. Visit Whycliffe Well – Northern Territory, Australia
50. Very Large Array – Socorro, New Mexico, USA
51. Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) – San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile
52. Mauna Kea Observatory – Hilo, Hawaii, USA
53. Griffith Observatory – Los Angeles, California, USA
54. Royal Observatory Greenwich – London, England, United Kingdom
55. Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory Arakawa – Ishigaki, Okinawa, Japan
56. Teide Observatory – Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
57. Sydney Observatory – Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
58. La Silla Observatory – La Higuera, Coquimbo, Chile
59. Royal Observatory – Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
60. Roque De Los Muchachos Observatory – La Palma, Spain
61. Paranal Observatory (Very Large Telescope – VLT)- Cerro Paranal, Chile
62. South African Astronomical Observatory – Sutherland, South Africa
63. Lowell Observatory – Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
64. Pic du Midi Observatory – Pyrenees, France
65. Gornergrat Observatory, Switzerland
66. Mount John University Observatory – Tekapo, New Zealand
67. Cincinnati Observatory Center – Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
68. Hayden Planetarium – New York City, New York, USA
68. Planetario Galileo Galilei – Buenos Aires, Argentina
70. Adler Planetarium – Chicago, Illinois, USA
71. L’Hemisfèric, City of Arts and Sciences – Valencia, Spain
72. Eise Eisinga Planetarium – Franeker, Friesland, The Netherlands
73. Indira Gandhi Planetarium – Lucknow, India
74. Morrison Planetarium – San Francisco, California, USA
75. Nagoya City Science Museum – Nagoya City, Japan
76. Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium – Winchester, England, United Kingdom
77. Burke Baker Planetarium – Houston, Texas, USA
78. Stonehenge – Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
79. Gaocheng Astronomical Observatory, Zhengzhou, China
80. Observatory of Ulugbek Samarkand – Uzbekistan
81. Astronomical Rock Panels in the Lascaux Cave, France
82. Navajo Star Ceilings – Across Navajo Region, USA
83. Travel Along the Himmelswege (Sky Paths) and see Nebra Sky Disk – Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
84. Beijing Ancient Observatory – China
85. Jantar Mantar (World’s Largest Stone Sundial) – Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
86. Goseck Circle (World’s Oldest Solar Observatory) – Goseck, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
87. Hamelin Pool, Pilbara, Western Australia, Australia
88. Wadi Rum, Jordan
89. The Pinnacles, Nambung National Park, Western Australia, Australia
90. Meteor Crater Natural Landmark – Winslow, Arizona, USA
91. Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho, USA
92. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
93. Central Australia
94. Utah Desert, USA
95. Yehliu Geopark, Taipei, Taiwan
96. Fly Geyser, Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA
97. Iceland
98. Namib Desert, South Africa / Angola / Namibia
99. Bahariya and Farafra Depressions, Egypt
100. Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
COMPLETED [17%]
COMPLETED TOP 100 SPACE EXPERIENCES
soon!
