Blast Off on a Space Adventure!

Great Lakes Science Center is the new official site of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center. Phase I, which features more than 50 exhibits and artifacts, is now open, and work on the highly anticipated second phase of the Visitor Center is currently underway. When fully complete in 2012, the new NASA Glenn Visitor Center will feature an exciting blend of NASA artifacts and new, highly interactive exhibits focusing on aeronautics, scientific discovery and space exploration.

Skylab 3 Apollo Command Module

• See the newest addition to the NASA Glenn Visitor Center, the actual Skylab 3 Command Module that travelled to the Skylab Space Station.
• Learn the history of the space capsule when it was used in 1973 to take three astronauts to the Skylab Space Station and then return them to Earth 60 days later.
• Marvel at the 12,800-pound, fully intact capsule- a substantial piece of space history!
• Watch a cool time-lapse video of the command module’s move into the Science Center!

• Build a spacecraft and test how it would handle the stresses of a launch with our mechanical vibration simulator.
• Become a pilot for the day as you land a shuttle and fly a plane in our NASA flight simulators.
• Experience the sights and sounds of different rocket launches throughout America's history.
• Interact with NASA's website and watch NASA TV, the space agency's own television network.
• See a real, 175-gram moon rock recovered by Apollo 15!

• See models of rockets, shuttle engines, lunar landers and more!
• Get a glimpse of a larger-than-life solar panel that was used in testing at the NASA Glenn Research Center in 1995.
• Take a step back in time and see a real spacesuit, worn by astronaut Paul Weitz when he took a spacewalk outside the Skylab space station in 1973!

• Learn about the future of space travel and create your own lunar base with wooden blocks.
• Become an astronaut as you maneuver a remote-controlled lunar rover around rocks on our model of the moon's surface.
• See a map of NASA's lunar lander sites and look at lunar soil simulants through a microscope!

Reach for the Stars Benefit

Senator John Glenn and Linda Abraham-Silver, Great Lakes Science Center President and CEO, at the Reach For The Stars Benefit on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

Great Lakes Science Center presented its Reach for the Stars Benefit on Saturday, June 4, 2011. We were honored to have Senator John Glenn as our special guest for the evening. The sold-out event was attended by 400 enthusiastic attendees who enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime experience as they listened to Senator Glenn present an inspirational talk on the important role that science education plays in our lives. The space-themed evening included cocktails and an elegant dinner. Proceeds from the event benefitted the programs of the NASA Glenn Visitor Center at Great Lakes Science Center.

Senator Glenn’s June 4th remarks were aired in a special broadcast entitled “An Evening with John Glenn” on WVIS/PBS ideastream on Monday, July 18 at 7:30 pm. Please click on the video below to see Senator Glenn’s speech. The video is a production of WVIZ/PBS ideastream in partnership with Great Lakes Science Center.

Have questions regarding the new NASA Glenn Visitor Center? Check out our FAQ page.