It is 40 years since the first man on the Moon – but space has lost none of its appeal.

As adults remember where they were at the time of the "giant leap for mankind", children are getting excited about the Solar System once more.

Lord Drayson, the science minister, who opened a new interactive exhibition at Leicester's National Space Centre yesterday, said a teenager of today could one day be walking on Mars.

Lord Drayson said: "I think space is something which has an amazing capacity to inspire.

"I've got five young kids myself and I know how enthralled they are both by the history of space exploration and what's happening now, especially the talk about going back to the Moon, as a stepping stone for going to Mars.

"I think we need to point out that it's likely that the first human being to step on Mars will be a teenager at the moment."

Project Apollo, which opens at the space centre today, recreates July 21, 1969 – when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon – with video footage and even a living room straight out of the 1960s.

Lord Drayson said of the centre: "There's some really cool stuff for kids to do, and for someone of my age, it takes you back."

Children visiting the space centre yesterday were equally enthusiastic.

Emma Padfield, 13, of Glen Parva, Leicester, said: "We all want to know what's out there. There's so much in space we still don't understand. Astronauts are really interesting."

Shauna Ready, 12, of Braunstone, said: "We need to know all we can about space because if we don't we wouldn't exist.

"It's interesting to learn about Neil Armstrong and wonder whether we'll ever do it again."

Kevin Yates, who created the exhibition at the space centre, said: "The whole experience we want to give people is to re-live the Apollo mission.

"Children are still as interested in space as they were in 1969. You see that by the fact that we had 63,000 children though our doors last year."

Martin Barstow, head of science and engineering at the University of Leicester, said: "The anniversary of Apollo has raised the profile of space once again.

"We have to inspire the next generation. It's not just about space but about using space to inspire the next generation of scientists.

"We want to carry on doing the work in space because that's very important, but the whole of the science base is critical to the economy.

"If we don't educate enough physicists, engineers, biologists and mathematicians, the country will suffer, seriously, from an economic point of view.

"This is another way of getting kids into science."