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NASA Brings Moon, Mars Experience to Florida Air Show
Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321.861.7642)

Kim Newton
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
(Phone: 256.544.0034)

News Release: 05-176

The Stuart Air Show in Stuart, Fla., is known for "wowing" audiences with the latest high-flying, high-tech aircraft. But when NASA's "Vision for Space Exploration Experience" arrives at Witham Field Nov. 12, the traveling exhibit is sure to send visitors' imaginations soaring out-of-this-world -- to the moon, Mars and destinations beyond.

The new interactive exhibit is heading to the air show Nov. 12-13 to share with attendees the Vision for Space Exploration: completion of the International Space Station, returning humans to the moon and traveling to Mars and destinations beyond. The Stuart Air Show is an annual event showcasing more than 100 planes and includes in-air displays from U.S. Air Force demo teams and solo acts. The 2005 show is expected to draw more than 40,000 visitors.

The Vision for Space Exploration exhibit -- housed in a 53-foot-long trailer -- is intended to inspire space enthusiasts as they embark on a simulated space journey to the farthest reaches of the solar system. From interactive holographic control panels to 3D imagery, visitors will "fly" to the moon, Mars and beyond, and discover what it might be like to live and work on the surfaces of the moon and Mars.

The NASA exhibit will be open to the public during air show hours Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 12-13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit is wheelchair accessible.

Visitors who enter NASA's Vision for Space Exploration exhibit will begin their journey surrounded by stars, and take turns "controlling" holographic images of the moon and Mars -- to explore their surfaces and learn about journeys to come.

"Explorers" then are escorted into a 136-square-foot, three-dimensional theater featuring a five-screen presentation about the Vision. The dome's interior becomes a seamless floor-to-wall-to-ceiling window for a journey to other-worldly destinations. Visitors travel virtually through space, experiencing environments in other parts of our solar system -- giving them the illusion of stepping on the surfaces of Earth, the moon and Mars.

NASA experts will be available at the exhibit to answer questions and discuss some of the 30,000 technologies now used on Earth as a result of NASA's 50 years of space-based research and development. Attendees will learn how tomorrow's lifestyles will change as NASA develops advancements in power, computer and medical technologies, communications, networking and robotics. In addition, visitors will learn how other advanced technologies will increase the safety and reliability of space transportation systems, while also reducing costs.

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