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Author
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Topic: Visiting Langley Research Center
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RocketmanRob
Member Posts: 268
From: New York City USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 06-02-2008 09:16 PM
   
I'll be heading off to the Williamsburg Virgina area this summer on vacation with the family. A stop at the Virginia Air & Space museum is already on the agenda. I was wondering if anyone can confirm whether tours of the Langley facility are still available through the VA&S Museum. I took the tour a number of years ago and had a great time. Would like to redo it, but am not sure if they are still available in this post 9-11 environment. Any info. folks could provide. Also, any recos regarding the VA&S museum would be appreciated.Thanks, Rob |
NavySpaceFan
Member Posts: 655
From: Norfolk, VA
Registered: May 2007
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posted 06-03-2008 05:34 AM
Just took some out of town guests to VA&S back in November, we really enjoyed the new space exhibit (second floor). They also had, at the time, an interactive exhibit that taught you how to launch a plane off a carrier flight deck. Not sure about the Langley tour, though. |
Apollo-Soyuz
Member Posts: 1205
From: Shady Side, Md
Registered: Sep 2004
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posted 06-03-2008 06:33 AM
I believe each NASA Center has a website. Go to nasa.gov and click on NASA Centers and then click on Langley. Visitor information should be there.  ------------------
John Macco
Vice President
Space Unit
Shady Side, Md. |
mikej
Member Posts: 481
From: Germantown, WI USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 06-03-2008 04:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by RocketmanRob:
I was wondering if anyone can confirm whether tours of the Langley facility are still available through the VA&S Museum.
I visited the VASC last summer, and there was no indication that tours were available. VASC is Langley's official visitor center, just as the USSRC is Marshall's visitor center (and you can no longer tour Marshall).As you're driving from Langley to VASC, Air Power Park is only about a 1/2 mile detour. While it seemed a bit run-down and the building itself was closed for renovation, it does have a Little Joe booster with boilerplate, plus another low-fidelity Mercury boilerplate. There is also a Jupiter missile whose flame curtain, which would ordinarily close up the space between the engine and the missile's skirt, has rotted away. There's sufficient room between the engine and skirt so that you can actually stand inside the missile! While it's sad to see all the rust and corrosion, it's also cool to be able to see the turbine exhaust port, gimbal attach points, tankage, etc. |
lb206
Member Posts: 48
From:
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 06-10-2008 09:43 PM
Well as an employee of the museum I can tell you the Langley tours ended after 9/11. There have been attempts to restart them but all have failed mainly due to Langley AFB refusing to allow the tour on there area which had several tour stops. So for the foreseeable future there will be no Langley tours. If however you would like a museum tour while your here and I'm in the area I would be happy to show you around. |
MarylandSpace
Member Posts: 1337
From:
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted 06-11-2008 07:47 PM
You may also want to take the route down the DelMarVa Peninsula (Dover, Ocean City Maryland, and points south on Route 13, I believe) and stop off at NASA Wallops Island (Little Joe and other exhibits and a teacher resource room). The Assateague and Chincoteague ponies are nearby.After Wallops, continue down the peninsula and take the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel combo to the Hampton Roads/Virginia Beach area. IIRC Apollo 12 calls VA Science Center its' home. Modest admission fee to the VA Science Center ~$5 or so. Garry |
lb206
Member Posts: 48
From:
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 06-11-2008 08:44 PM
Actually Apollo 12 is at the Virginia Air and Space Center, which is a different museum than the Virginia Science Center. |
RocketmanRob
Member Posts: 268
From: New York City USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 06-15-2008 08:13 PM
Thanks for everyone's feedback/advice. Very much appreciated. Ib206 - As we firm up our plans I'll drop you an e-mail - may take you up on the offer. Thanks, Rob |
Ray Katz
Member Posts: 145
From:
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 06-17-2008 02:01 PM
Virginia Air & Space does a beautiful job displaying Apollo 12 - no clear plastic covering...Also some other nice goodies, like the hatch from Gemini 10. I was there less than a year ago. Ray
Museum of Space Travel http://www.museumofspacetravel.com |
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