Discover Delmarva: NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va-NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Accomack County Virginia is truly an “out of this world experience. WMDT got a tour of the visitor center from Elizabeth Hall a Communications Strategist for the facility.
Hall says “One thing that we do here is launch rockets and we’ve been doing that since 1945.” The facility predates NASA and was part of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics better known as NACA. Wallops is the only launch range and airfield owned by NASA.
The visitor center offers a unique perspective for people to engage with space and get a hands-on experience for free! “You’ll see exhibits all about engineering. and learning about sounding rockets through that lens.” We start with a glistening artifact with a bright purple color – it comes from the ASPIRE project. This was an important launch to test the parachute that was used to help land The Perseverance on Mars. Hall says they also conduct missions that return to earth “We focus on testing and different experiments. From students to adults.”
The possibilities are endless for the experiments – using everyday items like seeds or pet food to test the effects of zero gravity. This is done using scientific balloons that are launched all over the world. One of their other main exhibits shows off some of the cool-er experiments. “We also have our earth science exhibits like our ICESAT2.”
They offer a few hands-on exhibits where you can test out the launching technologies. “We bring our scientists here to the visitor center. So that anyone from the public can come and talk with them and speak with a real rocket scientist a real earth scientist and know that you can do science too.”
We moved on to a glowing part of the tour with their illuminated globe This globe can display loads of data here on Earth. It even can teach us about our neighbors too… “You’ll get to see different planets that are in our solar system. As well as real-time data on what the clouds look like or the hurricane tracker.”
One of their hands-on offerings is building a circuit like the Apollo 17 crew. The attention to detail is VITAL when dealing with space missions. They’ll give you gardening gloves and you’ll be timed to test your efficiency. They even have a 52-year-old lunar sample! Elizabeth says this is all a part of what they do here. “We are launching rockets, we’re using our scientific balloons, our airborne science, we’re studying everything that’s around us.”
Now the best part about the visitor center is that it’s free! It’s directly managed by NASA and they regularly offer programs for people of all ages to enjoy. For more information on special events, launches, or just planning a day trip. Check out their website NASA dot Gov slash Wallops.
