NASA will join a team of Jamestown explorers in Newport, R.I., July 25-30, to give a glimpse into future exploration, tying it to adventures 400 years ago. NASA is partnering with Jamestown 2007 in a number of signature events to promote exploration — past and present. NASA’s interactive exhibit will be set up near a newly-built replica of the Godspeed, the ship that brought the first English colonists to the New World. The Godspeed “floating museum” will be docked at Newport from July 25-30.
On the pier will be the NASA tent and the rest of the “Landing Party Festival,” a 40,000 square-foot area featuring live music, family entertainment, and historical displays that are free to the public. NASA’s exhibit gives visitors the chance to make a personalized “Space Postcard;” take photographs as an astronaut or settler; and win prizes for participating in a NASA trivia game. The exhibit highlights the connections between the adventurous men and women who settled in Virginia almost 400 years ago and NASA’s plans to explore space and establish a presence on other worlds.
NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration is working to return humans to the moon and develop the tools needed to further explore Earth, the moon, Mars and beyond. The road to discovery, much like the path to Jamestown, involves searching for water, accommodating human needs, developing new forms of transportation and establishing a settlement or space colony.
Newport is the final stop of six major port calls for the Godspeed and its landing party along the East Coast. The seventeenth century replica spent the summer sailing to Alexandria, Va., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.
For information about NASA research and exploration, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home
For information about Jamestown 2007 events: http://www.americas400thanniversary.com
