For Release: Aug. 28, 1996

John Dumoulin, CA20
Marshall Space Flight Center
(205) 544-6541

RELEASE: 96-160

NASA EXHIBIT FEATURED AT STAR TREK CELEBRATION

When Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and his crew put together their vision of the future for the trend-setting television series more than 30 years ago, little did anyone know how foretelling they’d be.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center plans to compare current space activities to Star Trek’s vision of the future with a multithemed exhibit at the series’ 30th anniversary celebration Sept. 7-8 in Huntsville, Ala.

The exhibit, along with two trailers which contain mock-ups of an International Space Station science laboratory and crew living quarters, will be on display at Huntsville’s Von Braun Civic Center throughout the weekend.

The six sections of the Marshall exhibit will feature NASA experts who will show how the technologies depicted in the Star Trek productions compare to the programs and technologies of today’s space activities.

One area of the exhibit, titled "To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before," will highlight NASA and Marshall Space Flight Center’s role in America’s space program. The area will feature displays on NASA’s unmanned exploration programs, its propulsion programs and the future of space transportation, including information about the joint government and commercial venture, the Reusable Launch Vehicle program.

"One Small Step Toward ... the Final Frontier" will feature information about spin-off technologies created by NASA but used by industry and in everyday life. The section will also feature information on the modern-day reality of Star Trek’s image of the "Sick Bay."

"To Seek Out New Life, New Worlds" will highlight some of NASA’s most recent high-impact programs, including images of distant galaxies and nebulas taken from the Hubble Space Telescope, and information on NASA’s recent discovery of possible life on Mars.

Perhaps no better example of the parallel between Star Trek’s vision of the future and NASA’s reality can be found than the current effort to build the International Space Station. "International Space Station: First Step to DS9" will feature information on the NASA-led multinational effort to create a permanent scientific platform in space. The display will also cover much of what NASA has learned about living in space from its Skylab days to the low-gravity research experiments conducted aboard the Space Shuttle.

"The Journey Home -- Understanding Environments Around Us" will focus on NASA’s part of an international effort to study the world’s ecosystem -- NASA’s "Mission to Planet Earth" -- and the space environment in our high atmosphere and beyond.

Finally, "Star Fleet Academy" will serve as a resource center. It will include a look at NASA education programs and space topic sites on the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Prepared by: Tony Jacob