NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., will be open to the public for one day to highlight new research areas and intriguing projects including a lunar habitat, the world’s fastest water-powered sled and a giant wind tunnel.
“There’s lots of exciting things to update the public on,” spokeswoman Kathy Barnstorff said. New research and development efforts on returning astronauts to the moon and going to Mars and beyond, as well as aviation improvements, will be on display. Visitors will be able to tour the facility where Neil Armstrong learned to land on the moon, see an inflatable structure that might be used someday to house people on the moon, and witness a water-powered sled test the performance of aircraft and shuttle tires at speeds of 250 mph.
Attractions for children will go beyond NASA-related exhibits and include pony rides, according to Barnstorff.
The open house, which will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 27, coincides with the center’s 90th anniversary, and it marks the first time in six years that the center has had an open house event. The last time the event took place, in 2001, more than 11,000 people attended, Barnstorff said.
