From space to Zirndorf
A very special guest visited us at the PLAYMOBIL FunPark on Sunday, June 2: a real astronaut! Matthias Maurer, astronaut at the European Space Agency (ESA), accompanied the PLAYMOBIL figure ‘ROBert’ back to Zirndorf after their joint mission in space. The little robot from the PLAYMOBIL YouTube series ‘ROBert knows’ had visited Maurer on the International Space Station ISS in 2022 and orbited the Earth with him for 177 days.
As a highlight of the ‘ESA Space Days’, the astronaut handed his adventurous companion back to PLAYMOBIL on the HOB Centre stage, together with a certificate for the completed space mission.
The children in the audience also had the opportunity to ask the astronaut questions about his work and everyday life on the space station. A selection of the questions collected during the previous days were also presented. There was a lot of curiosity: How can I become an astronaut? What does weightlessness feel like? What does it look like in space? And how does the food actually get to the ISS? The astronaut answered these and many other questions for the children. There was a lot of surprising information and interesting facts to discover for the young astronauts - and also for many adult guests. In addition to these exciting insights, visitors were also able to take home a personalised autograph from the astronaut and a souvenir photo with pirate Rico and the ESA mascot Paxi.
The ‘ESA Space Days’ took place in cooperation with the ESA from 30 May to 2 June 2024 with various space-related activities. At the ‘Mission X’: train like an astronaut rally, for example, you could complete an exciting space training programme featuring adapted activities from the Mission X school project by ESA and the UK Space Agency, or experience weightlessness in space with offers such as ‘Aero Space’ or ‘Aqua Balls’.