Earlier today, just prior to Airfest organizers discovering that the Blue Angels had cancelled their appearance, Rockford announced that NASA will have also have a presence at the 2011 Airfest air show. With the help of U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, Rockford Airfest organizers were able to secure the attendance of two astronauts as well as NASA's “Journey to Tomorrow” trailer.
The two astronauts, Serena M. Aunon and G. Reid Wiseman, will be making an appearance on the first day of the air show on Saturday, June 4th. The inclusion of NASA in the Rockford Airfest continues on NASA's public outreach initiative. Both were selected in 2009 at 2 of the 14 astronauts that are part of the 20th NASA astronaut class. Their appearance helps to show the public that there is still a NASA astronaut program even with the shuttle program coming to an end.
The astronauts will have their first public appearance at the Journey to Tomorrow Trailer in the morning then will be available in the Autograph Tent in the afternoon. The exact time of the astronauts appearance at each location will be available on the schedule available at Airfest.
The Journey to Tomorrow trailer is a 53 foot semi-trailer converted to, as NASA describes it, an 'interactive environment packed with hands-on activities and digital learning stations.' The trailer has 8 interactive computer terminals which, per NASA, 'include "Celebrating 100 Years of Flight," highlighting NASA's contributions to the first 100 years of powered flight; "Brain Bites," which answers common questions about air and space travel; and a lunar landing simulator. Additional workstations include glove box activities, a planetary gravity demonstrator and a solar system scale where visitors discover how much they would weigh on each of the planets.'
The announcement of the addition of NASA to the list of performers and attendees to Airfest adds to the 60 aircraft on static display and over a dozen performance teams, including 2 military aircraft demonstration teams, multiple civilian aerobatic teams and even the US Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon.
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