NASA brings a multimedia exhibit to San Diego
Johnny McDonald | Downtown News
Despite the grounding of the shuttle and a government clearance delay on the Mars project, NASA continues to sell the virtues of space exploration with a traveling space show called “Destination Station.”
The informative and hands-on exhibit makes its next landing at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, July 12 through Sept. 2.
Visitors will hear what it’s like to live and work in the International Space Station, an orbiting laboratory some 220 miles away with participating crewmembers Steve Swanson and Reid Wisema.
“NASA is bringing its Destination Station exhibit to San Diego to show what their human space program is still accomplishing long after the shuttle’s retirement,” said Col. Mike Hopkins, one of the astronauts that will travel to San Diego to support the exhibit. “I’ve lived and worked on the International Space Station, a fully operational scientific laboratory in space created by a partnership of 15 nations. We are doing science that will benefit us here on Earth in terms of health and technology, and we are learning how to enable your kids to explore beyond low earth orbit to destinations like Mars in the near future. Join us and learn about this exciting place in space!”
Also on hand at The Fleet to interact with visitors will be astronauts Chris Cassidy and Rex Walheim.
The International Space Station operates as the result of a peaceful international partnership, and NASA is but one of five agencies representing 15 different countries that work together in support of the Space Station.
Hopkins, Cassidy and Walheim will explain how space-based research brings results down to earth and plays a role in our lives.
The exhibit also includes hands-on activities, imagery, audios and visual technology.
“We’re excited to be able to bring NASA’s multimedia exhibit to San Diego and to provide our community with the opportunity to get up close and personal with life in outer space,” said Dr. Steve Snyder, executive director of the Fleet Science Center. “July marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and we hope that some of our youngest visitors will be inspired to become future astronauts.”
To complement the multimedia exhibit, the Fleet will present the giant IMAX adventure “Hidden Universe,” which takes audiences on a journey deep into space. Through IMAX cinematography, the deepest reaches of our universe are brought to life with unprecedented clarity through real images captured by the world’s most powerful telescopes—seen on-screen for the first time.
NASA’s MAVEN mission to Mars has been halted by the government shutdown. But it still has a launch window of 20 days in late November/early December when the Earth and Mars are in an advantageous alignment.
If MAVEN cannot launch during this window, officials say the mission would be delayed until 2016, when the next appropriate alignment occurs. MAVEN has been granted an exception to the government shutdown rules and has been cleared to proceed with launch preparations.
For more information, visit rhfleet.org/exhibitions/destination-station.
