There’s just something about outer space that gets us giddy.
Can you blame us? Who wouldn’t be sent into a sense of extreme excitement when thinking about the possibility of floating around in zero gravity in one of those sweet astronaut suits? And we can even say that after seeing both Gravity and Apollo 13. But like those actors, we fully understand our chances of one day orbiting the Earth in a multi-million dollar space shuttle are about as good as us winning the lottery five days in a row. It’s unfortunate, but true.
But that’s why they have stuff like Aerospacefest 2014 at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center on June 13 and 14. For people like us, and probably some of you who have an interest in space but just don’t have any way to travel there. We have yet to find an airline with service to the moon. If you hear of anything let us know. And here’s a little bit of Insider information – there will be a real-life astronaut there.
That’s right folks, Lee M. Morin, a New Hampshire native and crew member on STS-110, a space shuttle mission to the International Space Station, where he completed more than 14 hours working outside the shuttle as part of the Extra Vehicular Activity team, will be on hand to talk about all things space. But that’s just one of the many great parts of the two-day Areospacefest event that will get your space blood pumping.
“Everyone is interested in space,” said Jeanne Gerulskis, executive director of the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center. “And no matter how old you are, it’s wonderful to learn and have fun learning.”
The event will actually kick off Friday evening at 7 with a talk titled, “Time to Climb,” by Colonel Bill Moran, Wing Commander of the N.H. Civil Air Patrol. Moran was the squadron commander for the 46th Bomb Squadron that broke eight “Time to Climb” world records and established four new “Time to Climb” world records at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota in February 1992. Moran was the pilot of the first three record setting flights in a B-1B bomber and will be at the Discovery Center to talk about that day. Hopefully Moran doesn’t talk as fast as he flies a plane, because it might be a little hard to keep up.
“He was just talking about this amazing day and it got me thinking,” Gerulskis said. “It sounded so cool, so I started thinking ‘wouldn’t that be great for Aerospacefest?’ He didn’t tell me how fast they went. I’ve got to go to the talk to find out.”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and cost of admission is $10 for adults, $9 for students and seniors, and $7 for children. Discovery Center members and children age 2 and under are free.
And that’s just Friday night. Saturday’s festivities get going at 10:30 a.m. and last until 4 p.m. The fun starts right away, complete with a bouncy house and climbing wall for the kids, along with presentations, demonstrations and activities for all ages on astronomy, aviation, Earth and space science. You know, we could get use to this idea of learning and having fun at the same time.
“If there’s something fun for the kids to do, it gets the kids thinking about all the possibilities for their future,” said Gerulskis.
Students from Plymouth State University will be on hand for weather balloon launches that will fly way high in the air to pick up some pretty cool data. The N.H. Astronomical Society will provide the goods for some telescope viewing, and it will also mark the opening of a new NASA exhibit, “The Sun as Art.” And we almost forgot to mention the remote control airplane demos and wildlife encounters. We wonder if any of the animals will be going for a ride. Just kidding, we all know that’s not safe.
“It may not exactly tie in with space, but the kids love it,” said Gerulskis of the animals.
Morin, who is currently involved in NASA’s next steps in humanity’s exploration of the solar system, working on the cockpit of NASA’s newest spacecraft – the Crew Exploration Vehicle – will begin his presentation at 2 p.m. But before dazzling all of you about the luxurious life of an astronaut, Morin will make a special announcement that will just about send three lucky space enthusiasts to the moon. He will call up this year’s selections for the Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship, which will cover the cost of tuition for attending Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.
“At this point we’ve sent 41 kids to space camp,” said Gerulskis.
Cost of admission for Saturday’s festivities is $15 for adults, $13 for students and seniors, and $10 for children. Discovery Center members and children age 2 and under can attend for free.
For more information, visit starhop.com.
“We want to get as many people out here as possible,” said Gerulskis. “This is a good fundraiser for us. It’s like our biggest day of the year – or day and a half.”
