Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center

Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center
Map
Established1982 (1982)
LocationBuilding J-17
Wallops Island, Virginia
Coordinates37°56′19″N 75°27′26″W / 37.9386°N 75.45736°W / 37.9386; -75.45736
TypeSpace museum
WebsiteNASA Visitor Center

The Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center is located in Building J-17, Wallops Island, Virginia, United States along Route 175. It contains exhibits highlighting past missions conducted at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.[1] The visitor center also provides information about current activities at Wallops Flight Facility, such as the sounding rocket, balloon and aircraft program. The outside grounds has a rocket garden consisting of rockets and aircraft used for space and aeronautical research, including a full-scale four-stage reentry vehicle used to study the Earth's atmosphere. In addition, the visitor center has educational programs on Earth and space science. It is also a viewing area for rocket launches.[2]

History

The visitor center was established in 1982. It is named Robert L. Krieger Education Complex after the long term head of Wallops Flight Facility.

Exhibits

Some exhibits include:

  • Moon rock from Apollo 17
  • Scale models of rockets, satellites, research equipment and aircraft
  • Science On a Sphere[3]
  • Hands-on interactive demonstrations and educational videos
  • Observation deck for watching launches from Wallops Flight Facility
  • Model rocket launches
  • Earth As Art
  • "Welcome to the NASA Visitor Center"
    "Welcome to the NASA Visitor Center"
  • Four-Stage Reentry Vehicle
    Four-Stage Reentry Vehicle
  • Nike-Cajun sounding rocket
    Nike-Cajun sounding rocket
  • Little Joe, to test Mercury spacecraft
    Little Joe, to test Mercury spacecraft
  • Plaque on Robert L. Kreiger Visitor Center Building
    Plaque on Robert L. Kreiger Visitor Center Building
  • One of the Education Complex displays in Robert L. Kreiger Education Complex
    One of the Education Complex displays in Robert L. Kreiger Education Complex
  • Training spacesuit for Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart
    Training spacesuit for Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart
  • Main sign at the NASA Visitor Center (Wallops Flight Facility)
    Main sign at the NASA Visitor Center (Wallops Flight Facility)
  • Historic sign at the NASA Visitor Center (Wallops Flight Facility)
    Historic sign at the NASA Visitor Center (Wallops Flight Facility)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to NASA Visitor Center (Wallops Flight Facility).

Notes

  1. ^ Lapole, Shirley (1 May 2015). "Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center: About Us". NASA. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  2. ^ Kaplan, Melanie D.G. The Washington Post, "Walloped by a rocket launch on Virginia’s Wallops Island", 23 January 2014. Retrieved on 25 January 2017.
  3. ^ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website. "Science On a Sphere". Retrieved 25 January 2017.