Hill Country Space Expo launches students’ imaginations out of this world

JARED FIELDS • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — Space comes down to earth Oct. 11-12 in Marble Falls for the Hill Country Space Expo.

Jim Wreyford, president of the Wreyford Family Foundation, said the expo is a means to get children interested in math and science.

“Unlike where it’s behind glass, all but about 2 percent of the stuff is out and about (at the expo),” Wreyford said. “You can feel it: gloves, a spacesuit and shuttle tile.”[box]IF YOU GO
WHAT: Hill Country Space Expo
WHEN: Open to the public 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Oct. 12
WHERE: The Boys and Girls Club of the Highland Lakes, 1701 Broadway St. in Marble Falls
ADMISSION: Free[/box]

Students from area schools are scheduled to visit Oct 11. The expo opens to the public Oct. 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is free to attend. It will be at the Boys and Girls Club of the Highland Lakes, 1701 Broadway St.

Wreyford said astronaut Richard Gordon, from the Gemini 11 and Apollo 12 missions, will be attending the expo.

A discussion panel begins at 2 p.m. Oct. 12 with Gordon and Apollo 13 mission controllers Chuck Dietrich, Jerry Bostick, Jim Bigham and Joe DeAtkine.

Wreyford said the discussion panel will be open to questions from the public.

“Other than how they go to the bathroom,” Wreyford said with a laugh. “It’s always asked, and it always gets old.”

Also, the expo will feature flight-simulation stations that give people the opportunity to experience landing a shuttle and docking a spaceship.

Students from the Marble Falls High School aeroscience program will exhibit their rocket, too.

Kids can build their own rubberband-powered rockets and other models.

Demonstrations stations also will show ultrasonic and infrared object sensing.

Much of the expo revolves around giving attendees a taste of what NASA astronauts, mission controllers and scientists do on a daily basis, whether in space or on ground.

“We want to show off a little bit of the stuff they did and impart some of that to the kids,” Wreyford said. “That’s the whole idea, to get them interested in that curriculum.”

jared@thepicayune.com