Facing Mars – Space Center Houston

Location: Space Center Houston
Venue: Space Center Houston
Address: 1601 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058
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Area of Town: Clear Lake/Bay Area Houston
Free Admission: No

This summer, visitors will be asked these simple questions at Space Center Houston’s new exhibit “Facing Mars.” Focusing on the real-life obstacles of sending humans to Mars, this groundbreaking exhibition, developed and designed by the Ontario Science Centre, shows visitors how the challenges of a Mars mission aren’t limited to technology or money. It asks questions associated with traveling to Mars for which there currently are no known answers. It also engages participants in the physical, psychological and scientific challenges that come with interplanetary travel.
The challenges of a human mission to Mars are as big as any humans have faced. We know that we can get there, but will we be able to survive? How will we solve the many challenges? What will happen when we push our bodies and minds far beyond any place we have been before?

This exhibition offers 28 interactive stations with four broad themes:

• Supporting Human Life: Explore the challenges of keeping a crew alive during a long spaceflight, from determining a sustainable and healthy menu to dealing with the realities of the prolonged microgravity exposure on astronauts’ bones.
• Interpersonal and Psychological Experience: How do you select a crew for what may be a lethal adventure? How are crew members affected by crowding and isolation? What role does non-verbal communication play in the emotional health of astronauts?
• Technology of Exploration: Explore some of the aspects of the technology needed for Mars exploration, from puzzle-solving robotic rovers to testing space gloves, to experimenting with glider designs.
• Nature of Mars and Space Travel Exploration: Design, test and launch a model rocket; get a flyover view of the Martian landscape; examine the puzzle of protecting astronauts from lethal radiation and explore the challenges posed by dust.

This limited-engagement exhibit is included with paid admission to Space Center Houston. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.spacecenter.org.