July 20, 2006 J.D. Harrington Headquarters, Washington 202-358-5241 Kathy Barnstorff Langley Research Center, Va. 757-864-9886 RELEASE: 06-282 NASA BRINGS THE FUTURE OF EXPLORATION TO OSHKOSH AIRVENTURE 2006 NASA will take visitors to the moon, Mars and beyond at the country's biggest annual air show, held in Oshkosh, Wis., July 24-30. NASA scientists, engineers, educators, and communicators will be on hand at the Experimental Aircraft Association's Airventure 2006 to provide a glimpse of the future in an exhibit that has universal appeal, literally. Outside the NASA building at Airventure, visitors will be able to check out a full-scale space shuttle engine that weighs more than 17,000 pounds. The engine is about the size of a recreational vehicle. There also will be a 30-foot tall model of the heavy-lift rocket proposed for the future Cargo Launch Vehicle, and interactive demonstrations. Inside the facility NASA will feature a full-scale mock-up of America's next space capsule, the Crew Exploration Vehicle. The exhibit will help visitors understand how NASA plans to send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. Included will be holographic astronauts to introduce the Constellation program. Constellation is the combination of large and small systems that will provide the capabilities necessary for travel and exploration of the solar system. No presentation at an air show would be complete without a look at NASA's contributions to aeronautics. Exhibits will feature a number of NASA-developed aviation technologies and a special education area will allow youngsters to make and keep their own paper airplanes, rotorcraft and straw rockets. Other displays will allow Airventure visitors to have their photograph taken in a spacesuit or see images coming back from space by way of the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA will take visitors to the moon, Mars and beyond at the country's biggest annual air show, held in Oshkosh, Wis., July 24-30. NASA employees will share their expertise at Airventure 2006. Aerospace craftspeople will be there to reveal mysteries of science and to show how they create the experiments that have propelled America forward as a leader in new air and space technologies. NASA representatives also will give presentations throughout the show at various Airventure pavilions. Speakers will include engineers, a test pilot, and veteran space shuttle commander Scott Horowitz. Horowitz is NASA's associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Washington. For more information about Airventure 2006, including scheduled events, visit: http://www.airventure.org/ For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
