Bringing space down to Earth

Area residents and school children will have an opportunity to see how astronauts live and work aboard the International Space Station through a NASA traveling exhibit that will be in Cape Girardeau next week.

The "Space Station Imagination" exhibit, featuring two 48-foot trailers linked in an L-shape to represent two modules of the space station, will be set up on the Schnucks parking lot at 19 S. Kingshighway.

It will be open to the public free of charge from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.

An opening ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Coincidentally, the real space station -- which first began its orbits in 1998 and currently is operated by a two-member crew -- will be visible in the sky during the early mornings for the next six days.

"Given the speed of the orbiting spacecraft -- 17,500 miles per hour -- telescopes are not practical for viewing," said NASA spokeswoman Tiffany Travis with the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Jackie Wortmann, coordinator of the NASA Educator Resource Center at Southeast Missouri State University, said she's observed the space station streaking across the sky. She suggests it's best to view the station -- which appears like a small, moving star -- with the naked eye rather than binoculars.

"Unless you practice ahead of time with binoculars, it is difficult to track," she said.

The space station orbits 240 miles above the Earth and completes a circle every 90 minutes, she said.

The space station's flight will follow a generally west-to-east path. It will be visible locally for only one to four minutes, depending on the day, Johnson Space Center officials said. The estimated viewing times vary from a 5:01 a.m. start to a 6:04 a.m. start.

A home in space

Back on the ground, the "Space Station Imagination" exhibit will focus on two areas where astronauts operate: The "habitation module," or living quarters, is where astronauts sleep, eat and tend to personal hygiene; and the laboratory module, where microgravity experiments -- conducted in a nearly weightless atmosphere -- are performed.

Visitors won't see exact replicas of the modules, but rather examples of some of the features of the real space station, Travis said.

"Dr. Emily," a robotic astronaut, will greet visitors to the exhibit. Displays will show how a space toilet and shower work like vacuum cleaners in the low gravity of space, as well as how astronauts eat and sleep aboard the space station.

A centrifuge displays how scientists might study the effects of varying levels of gravity on plants, animals and materials, Travis said.

Using some actual footage from the space station, three short videos present the story of human space exploration and the space station program.

Wortmann said the exhibit includes a Plexiglas floor to allow visitors to look down at the "bottom" of the space station.

"It gives you a feeling of microgravity," she said.

Wortmann said it takes about 20 minutes to walk through the exhibit trailers.

She said she hopes as many as 9,000 people will pass through the exhibit trailers next week. Already 3,500 children from 57 Southeast Missouri schools, preschool through high school, are signed up for tours and more are expected to sign up.

Groups are encouraged to make appointments for tours by calling Cape Girardeau's NASA center at (877) 321-NASA.

The NASA Educator Resource Center and Schnucks are sponsoring the exhibit.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123