CLEVELAND — NASA’s Glenn Research Center invites the general public to tour its laboratory and testing facilities on the first and third Saturday of each month, beginning April 3, 2010.

Tours are free to all ages and available to U.S. citizens. Reservations are required and can be made up to 30 days in advance but must be made at least one day in advance of the actual tour.

“We are expanding our tour program to allow more people to experience what goes on at Glenn and taking information out into the community about NASA, science and the benefits of careers in math, science and engineering,” said Linda Dukes-Campbell, chief of the Community and Media Relations Office. “The ultimate goal is to share with the public our cutting-edge technologies in aeronautics and space.”

A NASA bus will start the tours from Glenn’s Briefing Center at 10:30 a.m., and run every hour with the last tour departing at 1:30 p.m. Each tour will include a visit to Glenn’s Gift Shop. Guests with special needs are permitted to use their own vehicles, but must follow the tour bus at all times.

These are the facility tours for 2010:

April 3: Exercise Countermeasures Laboratory, where scientists and engineers conduct exercise routines, test exercise equipment and examine the effectiveness of exercise and microgravity on astronauts.

April 17, May 15, June 19, July 24, Aug. 21, Sept. 25 and Oct. 16: Zero Gravity Research Facility, where researchers from around the world come to explore weightlessness, or microgravity, on Earth.

May 1: Green Lab Research Facility, which is instrumental in developing an alternative fuel source called biofuels for aviation from plants and algae.

June 5: Abe Silverstein Supersonic Wind Tunnel, the largest and fastest wind tunnel at Glenn. It is specifically designed to test supersonic propulsion components from inlets and nozzles to full-scale jet and rocket engines.

July 10: Icing Research Tunnel, Glenn’s busiest facility, built at the end of World War II, which is instrumental in developing and testing ice protection systems for a variety of military and commercial aircraft.

Aug. 7: Telescience Support Center, where engineers provide around-the-clock operations support for space experiments on the International Space Station.

Sept. 11: Ballistics Impact Lab, where researchers perform impact tests, shooting materials such as foam, ice and metal at space shuttle and aircraft structures to see the structures’ ability to withstand damage.

Oct. 2: Altitude Combustion Stand, where engineers develop advanced propulsion concepts and evaluate safer propellants for launch vehicles and spacecraft thrusters.

Glenn Research Center is located at 21000 Brookpark Road. All adult guests must present government-issued identification upon entering the research center’s main gate. Public access to Glenn is limited to U.S. citizens, and all vehicles are subject to inspection.

The facilities are wheelchair accessible; however, some research facilities have limited accessibility.

For further information about Glenn’s tours, or to reserve a spot, call 216-433-9653, or visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/events/tours.html

For more information on NASA Policies Regarding Visitors visit: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/visit_grc_security_policy.html

To view the NASA Glenn Gift Shop, visit: http://www.nasagiftshop.com/