Published: May 06, 2008 11:15 am            

NASA exhibit opens today at Lon Morris

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

This is one time it’s good for preteens and teens to have their heads in the clouds — and beyond.

The Cherokee County Agri-Life Extension Leadership Advisory committee’s exhibit featuring the National Aeronautics Space Administration is being unveiled today at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville. According to event officials, the exhibit promises a unique opportunity to learn more about the U.S. space program and how any citizen might play a part in the exploration of space.

“NASA is scrapping the shuttle program as soon as they get the International Space Station finished,” said Willie Arnwine, the Cherokee County 4-H Extension Agent and a co-coordinator of the exhibit. “The new program will include the construction of a launch site on the moon, in order to reach Mars.

“The first people who will be able to set foot on Mars are 12 to 14 years old now.”

The NASA exhibits will be open to public viewing from 5 to 8 p.m. today and Friday at the Lon Morris College gymnasium in Jacksonville and at the same times May 13-15 at the Thomas J. Rusk Hotel in downtown Rusk. Admission is free.

Life-size and scale-size exhibits include real space suits, the space shuttle and 747 jets, space tools and equipment, astronaut food and more.

Admission is free. All schools and home-schoolers are invited to special presentations during school hours. Contact Willie Arnwine of Agri-Life by calling 903-683-5416, for details on group showings.

The extension agency’s committee members sponsored a science camp last summer for local students, and Arnwine said it went over so well they thought they’d offer more science-oriented programs this year.

“We’re always trying to bring new educational programs to the area, for the benefit of both young and older audiences,” Arnwine said.

The exhibit is sponsored by The Cherokee County Leadership Advisory Board of the Texas Agri-Life Extension Service; Jacksonville and Rusk Chambers of Commerce; Lon Morris College; and the Thomas J. Rusk Hotel.

        

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