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.