SPACE and NASA’s
50th anniversary celebration

Nearly 4 million visit SPACE at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it appeared in conjunction with NASA’s 50th anniversary celebration

Space: A Journey to Our Future appeared at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum from June 2008 through January 2009, one of the featured events celebrating NASA’s 50th anniversary in the nation’s capital. 3.8 million visitors were reported to attend the exhibit.

Evergreen in cooperation with a combined team of NASA and NASM

Special content and displays, along with near-real-time updates, were presented in the exhibit by Evergreen in cooperation with a combined team of NASA and NASM content developers and scientists, including

  • A special timeline marking milestone events in NASA’s history
  • Models of the planned Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle and Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle, both part of the Constellation Program to send human explorers back to the moon, and then onward to Mars and other destinations in the solar system
  • A large scale display of the planned Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, the new spacecraft that will transport astronauts
  • Updates throughout the exhibit to reflect the very latest future plans and vision for space exploration
  • Special added NASA interactives titled Build Your Own Spacecraft, NASA Home and City, and Return to Camelot
  • New video animations: Orion Mission and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
  • Primers and displays on the Constellation Program, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the James Webb Space Telescope, SOFIA and more

The exhibition was one part of a broader schedule of events and activities planned around NASA’s 50th anniversary celebration.
A special event marked the exhibit’s opening, featuring Christopher Scolese, Acting Administrator for NASA; General John R. Dailey, director of the National Air and Space Museum; Kenneth W. Cole, Vice President, Global Public Policy and Government Relations for General Motors; Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr., Vice President, NASA Program Integration, Lockheed Martin Space Systems; and Ronald D. Dittemore, president of ATK Launch Systems.

Space Opens Father’s Day Weekend

Media only:
Isabel Lara (202) 633-2374
Sonja Alexander (202) 358-1761

Media Web site: http://newsdesk.si.edu

“Space: A Journey to Our Future” Opens Father’s Day Weekend
at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

Visitors will experience the thrill of living in a Lunar Base Camp and planning their own mission to Mars without leaving D.C. at the National Air and Space Museum’s new exhibit. “Space: A Journey to Our Future” opens Saturday, June 14, just in time for children to take their Dads on an unforgettable Father’s Day celebration. The exhibit, on view at the museum through Jan. 11, 2009, highlights current projects in space exploration—satellites, space telescopes, living in space—and offers a glimpse to the future of human space travel.

“This exhibition uses the latest technology in museum interactives to introduce our visitors to space exploration,” museum director Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey said. “We hope that the hands-on activities in ‘Space: A Journey to Our Future’ will inspire visitors to learn about the history of the space program and become involved in the future of space exploration. The exhibition is a fitting commemoration of the 50th anniversary of NASA.”

“We hope this exhibit will help inspire the next generation of dreamers and explorers,” said Joyce L. Winterton, NASA’s Assistant Administrator for Education. “We want to ignite the desire for discovery in the youth who will be our next pioneers to explore the galaxy.”

Highlights of “Space: A Journey to Our Future” include a Lunar Habitat, where visitors can experience what it would be like to live and work on the Moon; an up-close look at NASA’s new Constellation Program with a model of the Ares I launch vehicle and the Orion crew capsule, the next generation of human spacecraft; an illustrated timeline of NASA’s 50 years of space exploration; and the multimedia 360-degree “Future Theatre.” This traveling exhibit developed by Evergreen Exhibitions is presented at the National Air and Space Museum courtesy of NASA, Lockheed Martin and General Motors.

The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Both facilities are open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (Closed Dec. 25) Admission is free, but there is a $12 fee for parking at the Udvar-Hazy center.

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