Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
5/9/03
For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Jay Staker, Extension--Science, Engineering and Technology (E-SET), (515)
294-8417, jstaker@iastate.edu
Carol Ouverson, Extension Communication Services, (515) 294-9640, couverso@iastate.edu
Explore Space Without Leaving The Ground
AMES, Iowa--NASA Johnson Space Center brings the excitement of human spaceflight to Ames, May 22-25 on the Iowa State University campus. Visitors will board an interactive display and catch a glimpse of how astronauts live and work in space on board the International Space Station (ISS).
Iowa's own astronaut Peggy Whitson also will be with the trailers May 24-25, and giving a presentation May 24, according to Jay Staker, ISU Extension 4-H Youth specialist and program director of Extension--Science, Engineering and Technology (E-SET).
The ISS Trailers Exhibit, "Space Station Imagination," consists of two 48-foot trailers linked in an L-shape to form two modules of the ISS: the Habitation Module, or living quarters, where the astronauts sleep, eat and tend to personal hygiene; and the Laboratory Module where they perform multiple microgravity experiments. Visitors, however, do not see exact replicas of what the modules would look like but rather examples of features of the two modules.
Animatronics "astronaut" Dr. Emily greets visitors as she awakens to start her day on board this international orbiting laboratory. Displays show how a space toilet and shower work like vacuum cleaners with very little gravity, and how astronauts eat and sleep aboard the space station. A centrifuge displays how scientists might study the effects of varying levels of gravity on plants, animals and materials.
Using some actual footage from the ISS, three video presentations (each about five minutes in length) entertain and inform viewers with the story of human space exploration and the space station program.
The ISS Trailers will be open to the public the following times.
* May 22-23 from 3 to 8 p.m.
* May 24 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
* May 25 from 1 to 8 p.m.
Astronaut Whitson will be at the trailers May 24 from 9 to 10 a.m. and May 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. She will present in Howe Hall May 24 from 8 to 9 p.m.
Visitors will find the exhibit parked in lot D3 at the ISU Center near the intersection of Elwood Dr. and South 4th St. Visitors also may park in lot D3.
Sponsoring organizations at ISU are the E-SET program of 4-H Youth Development, Iowa 4-H Foundation, Iowa Space Grant Consortium, and the NASA Food Technology Commercial Space Center. For more information, contact the state 4-H office at 515-294-8417.
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