Here is a picture of the right turn you need to make at the stop sign before the main gate to NASA.
Bear right at main gate
When you arrive at the white dome, bear right around it and head to the back of the dome to find a large free parking lot.
Free parking lot
The dome looks rather small so you don’t expect there to be much inside but we ended up spending about two hours there.
Entrance to visitor center
When you get inside, the lighting is very dim because there are about three different movies or videos being played throughout the space. The area is well air conditioned and extremely wheelchair and disability accessible. There are also bathrooms inside the dome building.
When you first walk in to your right, there are two pool tables but rather than normal numbered balls, one table has a set of balls painted with different galaxies and one has balls painted with different molecules.
Galaxy pool table
There is an interactive exhibit that is a lunar sample glove box where you can put your hands and arms in and see how it feels to interact with objects through the thick gloves.
Lunar sample glove box
These boxes were used in the Lunar Receiving Lab at the Ames Research Center in 1968 for a research project which aimed at searching for microorganisms in samples of soil from the moon. The scientists were concerned that interaction of microorganisms with the earth’s atmosphere may adversely affect them so to be safe they only interacted with the soil in these protected boxes. Unfortunately, no microorganisms were ever found in the soil samples.
There is a video called “Cosmic Voyage” being shown in a protected area of the dome that seats about eight people at a time.
Cosmic Voyage screen
This is a 35 minute video that explores the invention and findings of telescopes & the discovery of the universe to microscopes and the discovery of quarks as well as the creation of earth.
They have a sample of 3.4 billion year old moon rock from the Apollo 15 ( 1971) visit to the moon. The moon rock sample exhibited is made of basalt and contains pigeonite phenocyrsts.
Moon rock
Other exhibits include the original Mercury Spacecraft that was the first unmanned spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral in 1960 and an original blade from the 40x80 foot wind tunnel constructed in the early 1940s and which was used to test model and life size aircraft designs by producing winds up to 230 mph (see below).
Wind tunnel blade
There is a model of the Kepler telescope that was built to search for inhabitable planets (see illustration below).
Kepler illustration
The idea behind this project is to detect changing patterns in the brightness of stars (suns) which indicates orbiting planets that move in front of the star. These potential solar systems are then surveyed to predict whether they likely to be habitable for humans. The plan is to have Kepler orbit our sun. For more information about the project and its progress please go to: http://kepler.nasa.gov/ .
They also have a model of SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy).
Inside of model 747 plane
The story behind SOFIA is that it is a 17 ton 2.5 meter reflecting telescope and assembly housed in a Boeing 747 airplane. The plane is designed to fly about 40,000 feet above sea level to observe astronomical objects that emit infrared energy that is invisible to the human eye. As of September 2009, they are still testing the airplane in Palmdale CA and expect to launch it in the Spring of 2010. For more information please see: http://www.sofia.usra.edu/ .
Last but not least, there is a famous 40-foot wide screen that plays more than four different 10 minute videos about these subjects: SOPHIA, Kepler, LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ) and how nanotechnology is being used at NASA.
Full Review: NASA Ames Exploration Center
Here is a picture of the right turn you need to make at the stop sign before the main gate to NASA.
Bear right at main gate
When you arrive at the white dome, bear right around it and head to the back of the dome to find a large free parking lot.
Free parking lot
The dome looks rather small so you don’t expect there to be much inside but we ended up spending about two hours there.
Entrance to visitor center
When you get inside, the lighting is very dim because there are about three different movies or videos being played throughout the space. The area is well air conditioned and extremely wheelchair and disability accessible. There are also bathrooms inside the dome building.
When you first walk in to your right, there are two pool tables but rather than normal numbered balls, one table has a set of balls painted with different galaxies and one has balls painted with different molecules.
Galaxy pool table
There is an interactive exhibit that is a lunar sample glove box where you can put your hands and arms in and see how it feels to interact with objects through the thick gloves.
Lunar sample glove box
These boxes were used in the Lunar Receiving Lab at the Ames Research Center in 1968 for a research project which aimed at searching for microorganisms in samples of soil from the moon. The scientists were concerned that interaction of microorganisms with the earth’s atmosphere may adversely affect them so to be safe they only interacted with the soil in these protected boxes. Unfortunately, no microorganisms were ever found in the soil samples.
There is a video called “Cosmic Voyage” being shown in a protected area of the dome that seats about eight people at a time.
Cosmic Voyage screen
This is a 35 minute video that explores the invention and findings of telescopes & the discovery of the universe to microscopes and the discovery of quarks as well as the creation of earth.
They have a sample of 3.4 billion year old moon rock from the Apollo 15 ( 1971) visit to the moon. The moon rock sample exhibited is made of basalt and contains pigeonite phenocyrsts.
Moon rock
Other exhibits include the original Mercury Spacecraft that was the first unmanned spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral in 1960 and an original blade from the 40x80 foot wind tunnel constructed in the early 1940s and which was used to test model and life size aircraft designs by producing winds up to 230 mph (see below).
Wind tunnel blade
There is a model of the Kepler telescope that was built to search for inhabitable planets (see illustration below).
Kepler illustration
The idea behind this project is to detect changing patterns in the brightness of stars (suns) which indicates orbiting planets that move in front of the star. These potential solar systems are then surveyed to predict whether they likely to be habitable for humans. The plan is to have Kepler orbit our sun. For more information about the project and its progress please go to: http://kepler.nasa.gov/ .
They also have a model of SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy).
Inside of model 747 plane
The story behind SOFIA is that it is a 17 ton 2.5 meter reflecting telescope and assembly housed in a Boeing 747 airplane. The plane is designed to fly about 40,000 feet above sea level to observe astronomical objects that emit infrared energy that is invisible to the human eye. As of September 2009, they are still testing the airplane in Palmdale CA and expect to launch it in the Spring of 2010. For more information please see: http://www.sofia.usra.edu/ .
Last but not least, there is a famous 40-foot wide screen that plays more than four different 10 minute videos about these subjects: SOPHIA, Kepler, LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ) and how nanotechnology is being used at NASA.
40 foot movie screen