NASA is bringing the excitement of human space flight to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, beginning next week, when visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the International Space Station — the world’s only orbiting laboratory. On three select days – Monday, April 25, Thursday, May 5 and Saturday, May 14 – visitors can board the interactive exhibit, “Space Station Imagination,” to see how astronauts live and work in space.
The Space Station is a critical stepping-stone for the Vision for Space Exploration. NASA’s research efforts on orbit focus on the effects of microgravity on the human body. The activities done on the station, will provide insight and experience on how to prepare astronauts and spacecraft for long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
The Vision for Space Exploration includes returning the Shuttle safely to flight, completing the International Space Station, developing and testing a new exploration vehicle, and embarking on extended human missions to the Moon. NASA will return to the Moon as a first step to opening the Solar System to further exploration and demonstrating our ability to live and work on another world.
Space Station Imagination is comprised of two 48-foot trailers linked in an L-shape to form two modules of the Space Station: the Habitation Module, or living quarters, where the astronauts sleep, eat and tend to personal hygiene, and the Laboratory Module where multiple microgravity experiments are performed. Visitors do not see exact replicas of what the modules look like but rather examples of features of the Habitation and Laboratory modules.
Animatronics “astronaut” Dr. Emily greets visitors as she awakens to start her day on board this international orbiting laboratory. Displays show how a space toilet and shower work like vacuum cleaners with very little gravity, as well as how astronauts eat and sleep aboard the Space Station. A centrifuge displays how scientists might study the effects of varying levels of gravity on plants, animals and materials.
Using some actual footage from the Space Station, three video presentations, about five minutes in length, entertain and inform viewers with the story of human space exploration and the International Space Station Program. The complete tour of the exhibit takes about 20 minutes.
The Space Station Imagination exhibit will be located at the Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center parking lot, 8800 Greenbelt Rd, Greenbelt, MD. The exhibit is accessible to people with disabilities.
The Space Station trailer exhibit is free and open to the public for the following events and times:
April 25, 2005 6pm – 9pm 15th Anniversary Hubble Space Telescope Space Chats
The Space Station trailers will be open to the public from 6 – 9pm. HST Space Chats with Dr. Mario Livio and Frank Cepollina will occur between 7 – 9pm that evening.
May 5, 2005 5pm – 7pm Space Day
The Space Station trailers will be open for public viewing from 5 – 7pm. The public is also invited to attend a StarGazer party hosted by the Goddard Space Flight Center Astronomy Club as a part of “Eyes on the Sky”, but must pre-register for this portion of the event.
May 14, 2005 12pm – 4pm Goddard’s Return to Flight Festival
The Space Station trailers will be open to the public from 12pm – 4pm. The Goddard Astronomy Club will be launching Model Rockets and observing Solar Activity. There will also be a Moon Bounce Exhibit for children as well as other activities for the space attentive community.
For more information on Space Station Imagination, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/programs/exhibits/trailers/index.html
For more information on NASA and its programs, visit:
