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NASA Wallops 2020 Astronomy Night #1

February 26, 2020 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

NASA Wallops 2020 Astronomy Night #1 Set for March 6

The NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center will host its first astronomy night of the year from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 6, featuring Earth’s Moon, Venus and the Orion Nebula.

“The always popular astronomy nights are a great way to spend the evening with family and friends. The Moon and other astronomical objects can capture one’s imagination as you gaze into the sky on a clear night and dream of space travel,” said Amy Barra, Visitor Center director.

Human’s last set foot on the Moon in 1972 with the completion of the Apollo program. Following the Apollo missions, robotic missions, such as LADEE launched in 2013 from Wallops Flight Facility, continue to add to our scientific knowledge of the Moon.

Today, NASA through the Artemis program is leading a sustainable return to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and land the first women and the next man on the lunar surface by 2024.

Wallops will support this effort with its next moon mission in early 2021 with the launch of the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) CubeSat on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket.

Moon Lights the Way

The celestial evening begins with an astronomy presentation in the Visitor Center’s auditorium at 6 p.m. followed by night sky observations through high-powered telescopes operated by the Delmarva Space Sciences Foundation on the grounds of the Visitor Center from 6:30 – 9 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. The astronomy presentation will take place regardless of the weather conditions. However, the telescope viewing is subject to cancellation due to inclement weather.

The NASA Visitor Center, located on Va. Rt. 175 about six miles from U. S. Route 13 and five miles from Chincoteague, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Details

Date:
February 26, 2020
Time:
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Venue

NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center
Va. Rt. 175 VA United States + Google Map