NASA's Marshall Center, U.S. Space & Rocket Center Invite Huntsville

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-083

NASA's Marshall Center, U.S. Space & Rocket Center Invite Huntsville

What: The space shuttle "rocketed" our world -- and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., invites everyone in the Huntsville area to help celebrate the ride. The Marshall Center will host a celebration of NASA's Space Shuttle Program Aug. 20 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. To honor this remarkable, 30-year chapter in America’s saga of space exploration, the Marshall workforce and their families will join with the public to salute the thousands of men and women who sent America's flagship aloft, creating a fascinating and rewarding era of research and discovery.

The event will be held from 6-10 p.m. CDT. It will include rides, live music, games, large-screen shuttle videos, Oscar the interactive robot, an inflatable space shuttle slide and other activities for children, plus opportunities to mingle with shuttle astronauts and NASA program veterans. Tickets are $5 per person, which includes a meal of hot dog, chips and soft drink for each guest and access to the entire museum and to all rides (IMAX movie presentations are an additional $5, and other meals, drinks and refreshments will be available for purchase). Admittance is free for children 3 or younger. All visitors must preregister for the event, and bring a printout of their online registration to be admitted to the event. Individuals and groups may register at:

The shuttle celebration is cosponsored by the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Special Marshall Center exhibits and presentations will showcase the center's historic role in the shuttle program and its many accomplishments throughout the life of the program. In the early 1970s, Marshall was assigned responsibility for developing the shuttle's powerful propulsion elements, including the external tank, solid rocket boosters and the space shuttle main engines. Marshall engineers conducted orbiter vibration testing in 1978, and the center has continued to manage shuttle propulsion elements throughout its three decades of flight.