Housed in the same building as the Vancouver Museum, the space center and observatory has hands-on displays and exhibits that will delight budding astronomy buffs and their parents (or older space buffs and their children). Displays are highly interactive: In the Cosmic Courtyard you can try your hand at designing a spacecraft or maneuvering a lunar robot. Or, punch a button and a get a punchy video explanation of the Apollo 17 manned-satellite engine that stands before you. Most exciting of all perhaps is the Virtual Voyages Simulator, which takes you on a voyage to Mars or a collision course with an oncoming comet. In the GroundStation Canada Theatre, there are video presentations about Canada's contributions to the space program and about space in general. The StarTheatre shows movies -- many of them for children -- on an overhead dome. And on selected nights, you can shoot the moon through a half-meter telescope for C$10 (US$7.50) per camera (tel. 604/736-2655).