Moon rocks and Mars rover: NASA adds exhibits, invites public to HQ

June 4, 2026

– NASA is inviting the public to its main office in the nation's capital.

The space agency recently completed redesigning the entrance hall at its Mary W. Jackson Headquarters Building in Washington, D.C. to include an eclectic collection of space artifacts, sweeping murals and interactive exhibits for the public to appreciate and enjoy.

"Our renovated lobby is now open to the public," wrote NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on social media on Tuesday (June 2). "Stop by to immerse yourself in the Golden Age of Exploration."

NASA Headquarters 2.0: Exhibits. Click to enlarge video in new pop-up window. (NASA)

Among the items on display are a full-scale mockup of the Perseverance Mars rover, the six-wheeled science lab exploring Jezero Crater; a fuel cell that was used to power the retired space shuttle orbiters; and an advanced composite solar sail system designed to deploy from a CubeSat.

A glass case holds tools used to service the Hubble Space Telescope while an entire corner of the foyer is taken up by a scale model of the X-43A, an experimental hypersonic aircraft designed to test scramjet technology. The latter is positioned in front of a wall-size mural of two of Isaacman's F-5 supersonic jets in flight, displaying a U.S. semiquincentennial livery.

Another mural lines the "Lunar Room," where visitors can see Apollo program artifacts, Artemis interactive screens and genuine moon rocks, including a basalt collected by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969 and a fragment chipped off a boulder that was brought back to Earth by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972. (The latter was previously on display in the Oval Office at the White House during the Biden administration.)

The main hall also displays a replica of an Apollo spacesuit like the type worn on the first moon landing, ready to pose with for selfies, opposite a model of the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) that was developed for the Artemis program and the return of astronauts to the moon.

The NASA Employee Exchange Store, connected to the lobby, is also open to the public and beyond its selection of space collectibles and gifts, it also offers NASA-decorated donuts for a memorable treat.

NASA Headquarters has been located at its current site since 1992. Standing along Hidden Figures Way (previously E Street SW), the nine-story-tall office building was named for Mary W. Jackson, NASA's first African American female engineer, in 2020.

The building's lobby has previously hosted temporary public exhibits. In 2003, the Earth Information Center was added to the east lobby to see the planet as NASA astronauts see it from space. Later that same year, NASA installed a sculpture of its iconic logotype, affectionately known as "the worm," just outside the entrance to the headquarters lobby.

The lobby at NASA's Headquarters has been redesigned to feature artifacts, interactive exhibits, a replica mars rover, and a donut shop in Washington, DC. (NASA/Tiffany Coutris)

An Apollo-recovered moon rock is seen in the NASA Headquarters' lobby in March 2026. A lunar sample (or samples) are on display as part of the new Lunar Room exhibit. (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

An example of an advanced composite solar sail system hangs overhead a full-scale model of the Perseverance Mars rover and other exhibits in the lobby of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (NASA/Tiffany Coutris)

A scale model of NASA's X-43A, an experimental hypersonic aircraft designed to test scramjet technology, is positioned in front of a wall-size mural of two of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman's F-5 supersonic jets in flight, in the lobby of NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (NASA/Tiffany Coutris)

A fuel cell that powered the now-retired space shuttle orbiters on display in the lobby of NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (NASA/Tiffany Coutris)

A selection of tools used to service the Hubble Space Telescope on display in the lobby of NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (NASA/Tiffany Coutris)

The "Lunar Room" displays Apollo artifacts and Artemis interactive exhibits in the lobby of NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (NASA/Tiffany Coutris)

A fender from a Lunar Roving Vehicle and other Apollo artifacts in the Lunar Room off the lobby of NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (NASA)

A replica of an Apollo A7L spacecraft, ready to pose with for selfies, on display in the lobby of NASA HQ in Washington, D.C. (NASA)

NASA-themed donuts for sale in the adjacent shop to the exhibits now on display in the lobby of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (NASA)