Return to the Moon

In commemoration of the Apollo 11 spacewalk 40 years ago, Great Lakes Science Center has opened its newest gallery, Return to the Moon. This gallery tells the story of the Constellation Program, NASA’s new program for human spaceflight, and its major goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020.

In conjunction with NASA Glenn Research Center, the Science Center has developed 14 exhibits that take visitors on a journey from the Earth to the Moon and highlight the new spacecraft being developed: the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the Altair lunar lander and the Ares family of launch boosters.

In Return to the Moon, visitors can take their own spacewalk with amazing interactive experiences.

• Manipulate simulated lunar soil to see how it differs from (and resembles) Earth soil
• Build a spacecraft that can withstand the stresses of launch – just as NASA scientists are doing with a full-scale Orion spacecraft
• Check out a lunar map and explore all of the successful moon landings – and see where we’ll go next!
• Future astronauts can use KEVA® planks to build the lunar base of the future
• Try your hand at landing the lunar lander Altair – or go “retro” and relive the 1960s by choosing the Apollo Lunar Module option!
• Operate a remote-controlled lunar rover, much like future astronauts may do on a lunar base

The exhibition will be supplemented with video provided by NASA Glenn Research Center that showcases their research and testing of Constellation.