Ely Cathedral to mark 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing

Space suits, meteorite fragments and a giant sculpture of the moon are to be displayed in Ely Cathedral as part of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

A lit art installation, Museum of the Moon, by artist Luke Jerram, with detailed Nasa imagery of the moon’s surface, will be suspended from the cathedral’s nave for a science festival on space exploration, artificial intelligence and future technologies.

Ely Cathedral canon Vicky Johnson, a former research scientist, who is overseeing the festival, said: “Ely Cathedral was itself a feat of medieval engineering and now, nearly a thousand years after it was built, serves one of the most dynamic science and technology communities in the world.

“We hope by staging this spectacular event we can highlight the long tradition of scientific thought as part of our Christian heritage and build on our reputation as a ‘cathedral for science’ – encouraging greater understanding between science and faith.”

The festival will include science-themed worship as well as lectures from high- profile figures such as the Astronomer Royal, Lord Rees. There will also be exhibits loaned from the Science Museum and the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge.