A STUNNING seven metre sculpture of Mars has gone on display at the Aerospace Bristol in Patchway. 

The sculpture of the Red Plant was designed by Bristol artist Luke Jerram and is part of the aerospace museum’s new exhibition. 

Called Journey to Mars the exhibition commemorates the 20th anniversary of Europe's first mission to the planet.

Also on display is a model of the Beagle 2 lander from the 2003 Mars mission.

Beagle 2, which was designed to search for life on Mars, was the brainchild of Bristol-born Professor Colin Pillinger. 

Professor Pillinger and others thought it was lost when it failed to send back a radio signal after landing on Christmas Day, 2003.

It will now be possible to view Mars from the air, as if from a satellite, mapping and studying the surface in great detail, with every valley, crater, volcano, and mountain laid bare for inspection.

Gazette Series: Luke Jerram

There will also be a series of talks, including several by Terry Ransome from Nailsea, who helped set up the exhibition and was team leader at the launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on June 2, 2003, when Beagle 2 set off for Mars.

Terry said: “We hope to encourage young people to study sciences and engineering and show that it’s not only NASA that can send landers to Mars or other planets – young people born or living in Bristol and the surrounding area can do it too.”

Amy Seadon, Aerospace Bristol’s head of collections, learning and interpretation, said: “We can’t wait to mark the 20th anniversary of Beagle 2 and highlight Bristol’s important contribution to the European Space Agency’s first ever planetary mission.”

Gazette Series: The exhibition is located in the museum’s Concorde Hangar until June 5The exhibition is located in the museum’s Concorde Hangar until June 5 (Image: Aerospace Bristol)

Other space-themed installations by artist Luke Jerram include Museum of the Moon, Floating Earth, and Gaia.

Luke said: “I hope that visitors will feel transported to the inhospitable desert wasteland of Mars and in comparison, really value our life on Earth.”

You can see the exhibition in the museum’s Concorde Hangar from May 4 to June 5.

For further details see - https://tinyurl.com/3rw5nr9d