posted 07-19-2004 08:05 PM               

I was at the Monroe County Fair in Rochester, New York yesterday, where I'm happy to report that the local National Space Society chapter had an awesome space exhibit. On loan from NASA was a piece of moonrock encased in lighted lucite from a moonrock that Astronaut Irwin picked up, guarded by a stormtrooper from a local Star Wars club , Buzz Aldrin's training EVA suit, other clothes (long underwear, white suits, gloves, boot covers, and more) of Borman's and Anders's, tons of pamphlets, handouts, stickers, and posters, an astronaut standup you could stand behind and have your picture taken, rocket models, and to top it all off, a 1/6 scale inflated Space Shuttle! The kids loved it! I wasn't so sure of the 30-plus-year-old still-sealed astronaut food display...that food is looking kind of sketchy after all this time! There was also a smaller-scale replica Mars Rover on loan from Cornell, computers for looking at space programs, a theater for watching movies (the one that was on when I went in dealt with the cosmonaut selection process). There were also a ton of display boards put together by group members, detailing current and recent missions of all the different space agencies/corporations.

In addition, the group had invited sci-fi clubs from the surrounding areas (including my Star Wars group from here in Syracuse) to help serve refreshments in costume, and participate in an "Intergalactic Fashion Show", a.k.a. costume contest. I would say there was 12-15 costumed individuals participating.

In addition to wearing my sci-fi hat, I was also experiencing my first NSS event (I'm a member of the national organization, but there's no chapter here in Syracuse). I think I'll probably be joining in on more of the Rochester chapter's activities after having talked to the group members. I talked up CollectSpace, as they seemed to not know much about it, so hopefully we may see some new screen names around!

It's a yearly event, so if you're in the Central New York area next July 16-17, you may want to stop by and check it out!

Capping off the day was venturing outside at the end and seeing the Blue Angels flying around at a nearby airshow...should have gone ahead a day and taken that in! I'm fresh on the heels of having been to the Binghamton, NY airshow the weekend before and having seen the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and other great demonstrations...all in all, it's been a great air and space month for me!