Space Day Returns to EAA Aviation Museum on October 9

September 9, 2021 – The history and future possibilities of space travel will be on full display at the EAA Aviation Museum on Saturday, October 9, as Space Day returns to the museum after a one-year absence with a theme of “Women in Space.”

Space Day activities mark EAA’s participation in World Space Week, with activities from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. all included with regular museum admission that day.

Nicole Stott (Photo Credit Bill Stafford - NASA - JSC)

The featured speaker for the event is veteran NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, who participated in space shuttle flights in 2009 and 2011, and lived for more than 100 days aboard the International Space Station. Stott was the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk, flew the robotic arm to capture the first H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), and participated in the first Twitter tweet-up from space to Earth. She is also known as “The Artistic Astronaut” who painted a watercolor while in space. Stott will be presenting at 4 p.m. in the museum.

Additional Space Day activities at EAA on October 9 include:

• Mercury and Gemini Capsule Replicas: Climb inside a full-scale replica of the Mercury space capsule, which was the first U.S. spacecraft, and the Gemini space capsule, which helped NASA get ready for the Apollo moon landings.
• Moon Game: You’ve landed on the moon, now what? Work as a team with your family to solve a series of challenges founded in science about living and doing research on the moon.
• Re-entry Capsule Design: Do you ever wonder how astronauts return to Earth after a mission from space? Design a re-entry capsule that can survive a wind tunnel.
• Foam Rockets: Learn about the parts of a rocket and the forces of flight as you build and fly your own foam rocket.
• Compressed Air Rockets: Discover what makes a rocket fly high by building an air-compressed rocket out of basic household materials.
• Fizzy Rockets: What do you get when you mix Alka-Seltzer and water? Experiment to see how high your fizzy rocket can go!

In addition, EAA’s Space Day Museum Exhibit Creation Challenge gives youths ages 18 and under an opportunity to create their own space-themed exhibits featuring women in space, with submissions to be built off-site prior to EAA Space Day from any type of material, including kits. All concepts will be presented for judging at 1 p.m. during Space Day.