NASA Shares the Beauty of Aerospace Design With Air Show Visitors

WASHINGTON - NASA will give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the art of aviation research at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture 2007. The United States’ biggest annual air show will be held July 23-29 in Oshkosh, Wis.

A NASA exhibit at the event will feature some of the working models that have been used to develop aircraft designs. NASA will unveil a special exhibit called “Aerospace Design: The Art of Engineering from NASA’s Aeronautical Research” in the air show’s museum. Artifacts include architectural and engineering designs for wind tunnels, wind tunnel models and designs for conceptual airplanes.

“NASA is excited to be part of the biggest annual gathering of aviation enthusiasts in the country,” said Tony Springer, head of communications and education for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, Washington. “The exhibit highlights aeronautics contributions NASA has made in the past and present, and will continue to make in the future. It also celebrates the craftsmanship and legacy of thousands of NASA engineers, technicians and model makers who create beautiful and powerful designs while working to advance flight.”

Air show visitors will see sights from the launch pad as well as the laboratory at the NASA pavilion. Outside the pavilion, visitors can view a 1-15th scale, 26-foot-tall model of America’s next manned rocket, the Ares I. NASA plans to offer daily lift offs of a 1-100th scale Ares I model. The 40-inch long rocket can fly as high as 800 feet.

A NASA F-18 Hornet research aircraft will be at Aeroshell Square for public viewing. The F-18 is used primarily as a safety and mission support aircraft.

Another aircraft, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, will be the subject of an exhibit in the NASA pavilion, along with a display that celebrates an era when astronomy was used for navigation. A flying astronomical science observatory, SOFIA is a Boeing 747SP jet equipped with an infrared telescope.

NASA has teamed with Jamestown 2007 to promote the spirit of exploration as the Virginia city celebrates its 400th anniversary as the first permanent English settlement in North America. Interactive exhibits will highlight some of the similarities facing settlers in 1607 and astronauts in 2007.

Returning this year by popular demand are craftsmen from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The craftsmen will talk with visitors about model-making techniques and how they contribute to spacecraft designs. Space shuttle tiles, rocket models, a section of an inflatable space structure and an unmanned helicopter model also will be on display.