Blasting into Summer: Thousands Enjoy NASA in the Park
By Wayne Smith
It was a super Saturday in the park to celebrate space and the Rocket City.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center joined Downtown Huntsville Inc. and other community partners to host NASA in the Park, a public outreach event that attracted thousands to Big Spring Park East in Huntsville on June 22.
And the reach of the event may go far beyond North Alabama in the years ahead, according to Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle.
"Marshall Space Flight Center is the soul of space exploration," said Battle, who was presented with an Artemis I Certificate of Appreciation by Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey at the event. "Huntsville is proud of NASA's leadership in space, and it was exciting for locals to see all of Marshall's cool projects on display at NASA in the Park. Seeing thousands of people, particularly young people, engaged at the event shows the enthusiasm for space and science. This event may have inspired a future astronaut or scientist who will take man back to the Moon, and one day to Mars."
Attendees of all ages packed the park to enjoy NASA exhibits and science demonstrations, giveaways, food vendors, and live music at the event, which was from 10-2 p.m. About 14,000 people attended, according to official estimates. The greenspace in the heart of Huntsville offered a welcome respite from temperatures that reached the upper 90s on the first Saturday of summer.
"Thank you to all our Marshall team members who helped make this year's NASA in the Park a huge success," said Marshall Director Joseph Pelfrey. "It was truly incredible to see the overwhelming support and participation we received from our partners in government, industry, academia, and the community."
The exhibits at the park included NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) Program, which is managed by Marshall, the RS-25 engine that will power the rocket, and the Human Landing System, which is also managed by Marshall.
Smith, a Media Fusion employee and the Marshall Star editor, supports the Marshall Office of Communications.
SLS Spotlight: Getting Ready for the First Crewed SLS Flights for Artemis
The featured business unit for June at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is SLS. Building off the legacies of the Mercury-Redstone rocket, mighty Saturn V, and the space shuttle, teams at Marshall are preparing for the first crewed missions under the agency's Artemis campaign with NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. Marshall manages the SLS Program.
Marshall teams are finishing outfitting and integration work on the major adapters for the SLS Block 1 configuration that will launch Artemis II and Artemis III. Beginning with Artemis IV, SLS will evolve into a larger, more powerful configuration called Block 1B. Already, development, test, manufacturing, and operation teams across Marshall - and across the country - are readying for its debut flight.
