The Hands On Children’s Museum, across the street from the Capitol Campus lawn, is hosting the NASA Exploration Experience, a 15-minute interactive exhibit. It features information about the federal agency’s Constellation program, a mission aimed at designing the next-generation spacecraft and returning humans to the moon by 2020.
The free exhibit, sponsored by NASA, allows visitors to design a moon base, get immersed in an 180-degree interactive video display simulating a visit to the moon, and touch a moon rock that was brought to Earth on Apollo 17 in 1972, the last time humans visited.
On Tuesday, families on a day out and adults on lunch break lined up for the exhibit.
Rosario Seelen of San Antonio and her daughters Hannah, 4, and Sydney, 9, visited.
“We drove by and saw it and ended up stopping,” Seelen said.
“I liked it, all of the parts,” Hannah said.
Adults had fun, too.
“You get to touch a moon rock. How many more opportunities will I have to see one of those?” said Kevin Taylor, a customer-service specialist at the Department of Licensing. He dropped by the exhibit on his lunch break.
The exhibit also focuses on technology that has been developed because of space exploration, as well as some of the advances that humans have made since they last set foot on the moon 37 years ago.
“One of the things we want to do in this exhibit is bring it all together,” said NASA outreach coordinator Kenzie Mayberry.
“With this exhibit, we give them a chance to step inside and see what it would be like to explore the moon.”
Venice Buhain: 360-754-5445
www.theolympian.com/edblog
