It’s a space exploration celebration as big as the Lone Star State featuring out-of-this-world space exhibits, educational presentations for students, astronaut appearances, legislative proclamations and the chance to touch a 3-billion-year-old moon rock. Space Week Texas 2009 runs March 4-8 in Austin and March 9-12 in College Station.
The celebration kicks off deep in the heart of Texas on March 4 at the Texas Memorial Museum (TMM) on the University of Texas campus. Visitors can experience NASA’s newest mobile space exhibit, “Driven to Explore,” from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. An astronaut autograph session is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. in the TMM patio.
On March 5, NASA takes over the Texas Capitol for “Space Day at the Capitol.” Space proclamations will be read in the Texas House of Representatives and Senate. The public is invited to view space exhibits in the Capitol rotunda and along Colorado Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Educational presentations for registered students are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Capitol lawn. Astronaut autograph sessions at the Capitol are set for 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. A special lecture, titled “Why Space Matters to Texas,” is scheduled from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences Building on the UT campus.
On March 6, 7, and 8, the celebration moves to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. On March 6, space exhibits will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and educational presentations for registered students from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Space exhibits will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 7, and 9 a.m. to noon March 8.
The final stop of this space exploration celebration is the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station March 9-12. Space exhibits will be available to the public each day from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Interested media should contact Victor Scott at 281-483-4942 or victor.j.scott@nasa.gov.
For more information about Space Week Texas 2009, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/events/sed.html
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
