Photo provided by the NEAM
Connecticut’s own NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio is pictured during a spacewalk in Earth orbit.
The New England Air Museum will hold its ninth annual Space Expo on Saturday, April 1 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. featuring Connecticut’s own NASA Astronaut Rick Mastracchio. In addition to a chance to have a close encounter with the right stuff, this action-packed day offers an array of hands-on activities for visitors of all ages. Visitors can try on a space suit, interface with a number of aerospace exhibitors, meet some well known intergalactic droids and characters, view planetarium shows, fly a Space Shuttle simulator at the NEAM Virtual Flight Center, touch a space rock, participate in out-of-this-world experiments and science demonstrations, build and launch straw rockets, and much more!
Special guests for Space Expo 2017 also include UTC Aerospace Systems and One Giant Leap, Inc., the Astronomical Society of Greater Hartford, CATO Rocketry Club, NOAA National Weather Service, Springfield Stars Club, the Springfield Museums and the Talcott Mountain Science Center.
Food and beverages will be available for purchase from Kane’s Market. Space Expo is supported in part by the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium, UTC Aerospace Systems and One Giant Leap, Inc.
Connecticut’s own Spacewalker – born and raised in Waterbury – astronaut Rick Mastracchio graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He later earned a Master of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Master of Science from the University of Houston –
Clear Lake. Mastracchio worked as an engineer at Hamilton Standard (now UTC Aerospace Systems) before joining NASA in 1990. He was selected as an astronaut in 1996, and has logged over 200 days in space. Mastracchio served on three Space Shuttle Missions and one Russian Soyuz spacecraft mission, which included nine spacewalks totaling 53 hours. Mastracchio will present two lectures on his experiences in space at 11:30 a.m. and 1p.m.
Space Expo will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the museum will close at 5 p.m. Admission is $12.50 for ages 12 and up, $11.50 for seniors 65 and up and $7 for ages 4 to 11. New England Air Museum members and children 3 and under are admitted free of charge. Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more with advance registration. Visit our website for more information and a complete schedule of events: www.neam.org.