Anyone visiting the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro at the weekend could have been forgiven for thinking they had either entered a different galaxy or they had somehow wandered into the middle of a film set.

To celebrate the launch of an exciting new exhibition on loan from the V & A Museum of Childhood in London, four Star Wars storm troopers and one Star Wars imperial guard were on hand to lend even more to the out of this world fantasy experienced by hundreds of visitors.

Museum staff were also dressed up for the occasion – as were some of the children who came along with their families.

“My sister is Queen Andromeda who lives on a melting planet and I’m on a secret mission from NASA to save her,” said twelve year old Ed Daniel from Newquay. “We’ve both spent weeks making our costumes and the exhibition is brilliant. My best bit was where you can design your own space bedroom.”

Tina Chapman-Dalley, from Camborne, had brought her son and his friend along.

“They love coming here, it’s an ideal place for children,” she said. “We’ve been here for three hours already – there’s so much to do and it all links into what the boys have been doing at school as well. They’re having a great time.”

Amongst the many exhibits on display is a meteorite that is 4.6 billion years old, a spacesuit belonging to Yuri Gidzenko who was a Soyuz commander onboard the international space station, models of the lunar module and space shuttle and a large number of space-related toys. There is even a Barbie doll dressed up as an astronaut!

“It is an amazing exhibition which is already proving extremely popular,” said Georgia Butters, the museum’s assistant director of development and communications. “It’s a great way of learning a lot more about space and the impact space travel has had on our own lives on earth in a fun way. Hopefully as many people as possible will take the opportunity of seeing it whilst it’s here.”

Entry to the exhibition, which will run until April 18, is free.