Our FREE “Smithsonian Museum Day” of exciting events. Visit with a real astronaut, touch space history, enjoy the thrill of a virtual reality roller coaster, and see Mars and Saturn through a telescope.

We will host a meet-and-greet with astronaut Mike McCulley, the pilot of STS-34, which deployed the Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter from the Shuttle cargo bay. He later became president and CEO of United Space Alliance, the contractor that launched the Shuttles.

Throughout the day…
– Young and old can enjoy the Rilix virtual reality roller coaster simulators. **

– ASM is pleased to welcome NASA’s Solar System Ambassador, Tyler Hines, who will be talking about NASA’s plan for the exploration of Mars.

– The Smithsonian Museum Day across American focuses on “Women Who Made History”, and ASM will have a special exhibit “Women of Space” for the occasion.

– Docent led tours of the museum will highlight the artifacts in the museum’s collection. These include actual interactive Shuttle Launch Consoles, hardware from the blockhouse at Pad 36A that launched hundreds of Atlas-Centaur rockets, items from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, rare spacecraft models and lots more in our galleries dedicated to NASA’s manned space program and the contractors who made the space program a reality.

– Kids of all ages will enjoy watching a “comet” created before their eyes by Mark Marquette, who heads up our astronomy program.

Evening Program…

An Urban Stargazing event in the ASM parking lot will begin at 7 pm, with the Moon, and three planets visible through telescopes of various sizes. Bring the family and see the moons of Jupiter, rings of Saturn and surface of Mars!

** We will have two Rilix Virtual Reality Roller Coaster systems for “rides” throughout the day. Here’s what they look like…

1) See the view as if you are riding the coaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgHVRQBO9pQ

2) Watch two guys riding the Rilix VR coaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soxoi-tmSt4

Note: Click the X on lower right to close the video window when done watching.