NASA Astronomy Days at the Science Museum

We went to the NASA Astronomy Days at the Raleigh Museum of Science today. The kids got to look through various telescopes at the Sun, make rockets from 2-liter bottles and launch them using compressed air and meet a real astronaut (Roger Crouch - flew on STS-83 and STS-94).

Here are some photos of the day


Cece checks out the Sun. The telescope has a filter that eliminates all but a very narrow band of light allowing the viewer to safely view the Sun. All the kids got to look through several different telescopes to see various filters (and even a satellite capturing noise from space).


Launching a rocket starts with picking out the perfect body. Nose cone color is the real key to success.


Brian gets his rocket wings ready for flight. Proper design is critical to a successful launch.


The Astro Rangers get ready for launch.


Looking skyward to track their launch. The rockets went up, with a pop from the compressed air. After soaring to a height of nearly 30 feet they came back down to terra firma.


The post-launch rush to check the structural integrity of their designs. All three survived their initial launches.


The kids meeting Astronaut Roger Crouch. He flew on STS-83 and STS-94.

Sure - I'm an adult (more or less) ... but it was pretty cool to meet an astronaut. These guys strap themselves in just feet above hundreds of thousands of pounds of fuel and launch at thousands of miles an hour into space. SPACE! Come on! These are "Real Men" © and it was pretty fun to meet one. [-Robert]