This week, space minister Andrew Griffith appeared to make an embarrassing slip-up as he confused Mars with the sun.
During a trip to the Science Museum, the minister was also reportedly baffled by a display showing the surface of Jupiter, which Griffith misidentified as Saturn.
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Mr Griffith’s gaffe came during a visit to the Science Museum in London, where the minister talked up the UK’s prospects as a space-faring nation.
The space minister reportedly pointed to an exhibit showing the surface of the planets in the Solar System and exclaimed: ‘Now we have got to Mars!’.
Mr Griffith was then told by a member of museum staff that he was, in fact, pointing at the Sun.
Space minister Andrew Griffith reportedly mistook the the sun for Mars and Jupiter for Saturn during a trip to the Science Museum in London
According to an interview with The House magazine, as the exhibit changed again Mr Griffith continued to declare: ‘That one is Saturn’.
Once again, a member of staff replied: ‘No, no, that is Jupiter.’
During the interview, Mr Griffith also played down his prospects of becoming the first UK minister to venture into space.
He said: ‘Would I want to be the first minister in space? I think the whole idea of space exploration is fascinating.
‘It’s enormously good that people like Tim Peake and others do that, but I’m very respectful of the amount of proficiency that goes into that.’
