First Mother in Space, Mars Team To Be At NASA Langley Open House

HAMPTON, Va., Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An astronaut who was the first mother in space will mingle with visitors and sign autographs this Saturday at NASA Langley Research Center's open house.

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Also making an appearance will be members of the NASA Langley team that helped put the Curiosity rover on Mars last month.

Astronaut Anna L. Fisher will be at Langley from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 22 as part of the open house, which celebrates the center's 95th anniversary.

The event is free and open to the public, and visitors are encouraged to tell about their experience on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. Langley's Twitter handle is @NASA_Langley; the Facebook address is www.facebook.com/nasalarc.

Fisher became the first mother in space when she spent a week week in orbit as a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1984. Prior to joining NASA, she had was as an emergency room physician.

Today Fisher is an International Space Station capsule communicator or CAPCOM, the person in NASA's mission control who talks with astronauts aboard spacecraft. She also works on development of the Orion crew capsule, part of NASA's next-generation space transportation system.

Fisher will talk with guests about the Orion project during a special splash-test of a crew capsule mockup at 3 p.m. at Langley's Hydro Impact Basin. The basin is one of several stops on a tour designed for members of the public attending the open house.

She also will be at the Reid Conference Center from 10 a.m. to noon, and at the Pearl Young Theater from 1 to 2:30 p.m. to speak and sign autographs. To learn more about Fisher, go to http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/fisher-a.html

NASA Langley was the nation's first civilian aeronautical lab when it opened in 1917 to "solve the problems of flight." Since then, Langley has had a hand in the development of virtually every U.S. military and commercial aircraft.

Langley is also the birthplace of the country's space program, work that continues today. Another area of focus is the study of Earth's atmosphere to better understand our home planet.

Other highlights of the open house include:

• Tours of 20 wind tunnels and labs showcasing NASA Langley's 95 years of contributions to the nation's aerospace program as well as present and future projects.
• Activities such as programming a Lego robot, landing a spacecraft on Mars using an Xbox Kinect game, making a comet from dry ice, and meeting Robonaut, the most unique crew member aboard the International Space Station.
• The chance to have lunch in the NASA Langley employee cafeteria and purchase items from the gift shop.

Visitors can reach tour stops on by taking buses  that will be provided and will be able to exit the tour at any stop.

NOTE: Visitors are encouraged to wear comfortable, closed-toe walking shoes. All vehicles and people entering are subject to search. Prohibited are weapons of any kind, including firearms and knives; shoulder bags except for women's purses and infant diaper bags; coolers; alcoholic beverages, and computers, although smart phones and tablets are allowed.

Helpful links

List of tour stops: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/events/95th-tour.html

Mars mission: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/exploration/langley-msl-role.html

Directions to NASA Langley: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/about/directions.html

For more information about Langley go to http://www.nasa.gov/langley

- Michael Finneran, NASA Langley Research Center

SOURCE NASA