The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Robert Scheer

NASA packed 'em in Saturday with a huge open house at Moffett Field.

For All Mankind

A large chunk of humanity visits NASA's open house

By Natasha Collins

NASA swung its huge hangar doors wide open last Saturday, and 100,000 people poured in to take a look.

Carload upon carload of space buffs--maybe even a future astronaut or two--rode through the gates of Moffett Federal Airfield to see the world's largest wind tunnel, take 3-D tours of the surface of Mars and talk to actual astronauts.

It was one small step for man--and one huge trampling throng of mankind. Families, scout troops and plenty of out-of-towners--some from as far, as Fresno and beyond--waited in more than an hour of traffic once they reached the airfield's vicinity.

For some, like Billy Sanchez, 15, who waited 90 minutes to talk to the astronauts, the lines and the crowds were worth it.

"It has made me want to study harder and get good grades so I can go up one day and maybe even live on a space station," he said. "I will definitely pay more attention in my science classes from now on."

For others, it was not so inspiring.

"It was hot and crowded and the lines were really long," said Christen Hillman, 9.

Without revealing any national secrets, NASA showed the masses what the agency does. It was a day for NASA to show itself off.

Put simply: "It was fun," said Nicole Gross, 9.

People parked their cars on Middlefield Road and hiked for miles to get to the 15 or so exhibits and 16 stage performances. Traffic on northbound 101 was backed up beyond the Alviso Road exit, and CHP officers had their hands full trying to get three directions of traffic moving toward Moffett's entrance in a semi-orderly fashion.

Members of the Air National Guard greeted each car with a salute and directed traffic to the numerous events and parking areas, each time smiling and saying, "Hello, welcome to Moffett Field."

There were planes for people to climb on and view. Astronauts told about their adventures in space. A movie showed the surface of Mars in 3-D, and another took spectators on a tour of Earth from new vantage points and at a variety of altitudes.

Children and adults toured flight simulators--where astronauts learn how to fly and land the space shuttle. Children visited U.S. Space Camp and learned about weightlessness and how astronauts survive in space.

For Pamela, Billy's mother, hearing her son say he would take pride in his school work made the long, hot day a huge success.

"I think this has been a wonderful event," she said. "If it can get kids interested in school and science, then it is worthwhile."

[ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ]

This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 24, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.