Ames Research center has two special places to explore.
Ames Exploration Encounter:
One area of outreach at Ames Research center is the Ames Exploration Encounter (AEE) is a unique educational program designed to inspire positive attitudes about science, math and technology for all students in the 4th through 6th grade.
Located in a renovated supersonic wind tunnel building at NASA Ames in Mountain View, California; the Ames Exploration Encounter makes math and science curriculum come alive. Students experience science in action and come to realize its connection to their lives.The program is open to 4th - 6th grade students (5th grade being optimal) with a minimum class size of 20 and a maximum of 32 students. We require a minimum of 5 adult chaperones per class, including the teacher. Morning sessions are Monday through Friday from 9:30am-12:00 pm and afternoon sessions are Monday through Thursday from 1:00pm-3:30pm.
AEE Four Hands-On Stations:
- Exploring Physics - Students experience basic concepts in the area of physics in an interactive and fun hands-on way.
- Exploring Flight - Students will explore the principles of flight, use of wind tunnels, and computers to design rotorcraft.
- Exploring Space - Students have the opportunity to see themselves in the roles of astronauts, engineers, and research scientists on a simulated space mission performing a variety of tasks and experiments.
- Exploring Earth - Students work with scientific information gathered from space missions and high altitude flights to better understand our planet.
Experience NASA's Vision for Exploration:
The second area of outreach is the NASA Ames Exploration Center, where visitors can experience NASA technology and missions first hand, recently added a number of fresh and exciting exhibits open to the public at no charge. Located at the main gate to NASA Ames at Moffett Field just off US 101, the NASA Exploration Center has welcomed more than 150,000 visitors in its first year and has inspired tens of thousands of schoolchildren to become the next generation of space explorers. The facility is open to the public FREE of charge.The facility boasts the largest Immersive Theater on the West Coast. The theater presents panoramic views of Mars and Saturn's rings as well as other eye-popping movies and special effects on a curved 40 foot wide screen. Content includes a true-color panorama taken by the rover Spirit of the "Cahokia" site on the Columbia Hills and images taken by the Cassini mission of Saturn can be viewed on the large screen. Some of the alien images are seen at twice the resolution of high definition television.School and other groups are welcome, but please call in advance of your visit if you plan to bring a group of more than 20 and to ensure the most current information to allow us to provide a better visitor experience. The NASA Exploration Center is FREE and open to the public.There is a gift shop outside the NASA Exploration Center that sells NASA and space related clothing, patches, posters, videos and more. All purchases at the gift shop, operated by the nonprofit Ames employee association, are tax-exempt.
Current Exhibits
Edgarville Airport:
The "Edgarville" interactive display allows users to manage air traffic at a fictional airport. Developed by NASA's Airspace Systems Program, Edgarville Airport-Take Off to the Future of Air Travel, is a three-dimensional, interactive immersive environment with animated characters to guide guests through a virtual airport. Employing real air traffic controllers to explain how air traffic is managed, Edgarville Airport shows how the National Airspace System (NAS) operates.Mars Terrain Globe:
A topographical globe of the red planet's landscape enables guests to see and touch Mars' geological formations, which have intrigued scientists on Earth for centuries. Olympus Mons (nearly three times taller than Mount Everest and covers an area the size of the state of Arizona), the solar system's largest volcano can be seen as well as Valles Marineris, a canyon system that extends 2,500 miles and is up to six miles deep.Mercury Redstone 1A (MR-1A):
This capsule was launched on December 19, 1960, and attained an altitude of 130.7 statute miles. MR-1A was the last unmanned test flight before the Mercury 7 astronauts took flight. Five months after MR-1A flew, on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to fly in space aboard Friendship 7, a Mercury capsule nearly identical to MR-1A. MR-1A has a cracked porthole that occurred when the craft splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.Moon Rock: On display in the Exploration Center is a lunar sample retrieved by the crew of Apollo 15 from the Moon's Hadley-Apennine region. This sample is part of the 169 pounds retrieved from the lunar surface during the crew's 66.9 hour stay on the Moon. In addition, meteorite and other geological samples are on display.
Immersive Theater: In conjunction with SGI, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., the NASA Exploration Center features a high-resolution Immersive Theater with a 14-foot tall and 36-foot wide screen. Interactive models and high-definition videos show in detail the Mars mission, fly-overs of the Martian surface, and the science contributions of scientists at NASA Ames Research Center.
Exploration Center Closed for the Holidays on the Following Dates:
Saturday, December 23 thru Monday, December 25;
Sunday, December 31 thru Monday, January 1
Hours of Operation
- Tuesday - Friday
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Weekends
12 noon - 4 p.m. - We are closed Mondays and Federal Holidays.
Phone: (650) 604-6274 or (650) 604-6497
Here is a map to Ames Research Center.
Admission is Free
