NASA and CNU Gear Up for Flight’s Centennial Celebration
News Release - March 5, 2002
contact:
Denise Waters
University Relations
dwaters@cnu.edu
(757) 594-7331
On December 17, 1903, The Wright Brothers flew at Kill Devil Hills and changed the world. Their legacy lives on through the vast array of “winged things” that have descended from their brainchild. Excitement is building over the coming Centennial of Flight in 2003.
Pete Thomas from NASA Langley’s Office of Education, and Mike Hatfield, Aviation World’s Fair 2003 (www.awf2003.com), will be guest speakers at a Centennial of Flight lecture at 2:30 p.m. on March 11, 2002, in the Gaines Theatre, Christopher Newport University. They will brief members of the CNU LifeLong Learning Society, students, faculty and guests on the latest 2003 Centennial of Flight Celebration plans, including the following topics:
Lots More Space for Air and Space...
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian will expand to Washington Dulles International Airport with a spectacular new museum annex. Plans call for the complex to be 10 stories high, with walkways at 10 and 40 feet above the floor, and airplanes everywhere. They will hang from the rafters in the massive Quonset-hut-style building, and will fill the floor space – 187 of them, including an SR-71 Blackbird, a B-17, the Enola Gay, and a Boeing Das 80, the prototype of the 707. An adjacent space hangar will house the Space Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise, a Spacelab module, and much, much more. The new complex will also include a restoration facility, an observation tower, an archival resource center, a large-format theater, education facilities for school groups, and lots of retail space and restaurants. Admission will be free, in the Smithsonian tradition.
Also Coming, An Aviation World's Fair...
Aviation might have been born right here in the U.S., but it quickly spread worldwide. The organizers of the Aviation World's Fair 2003 settled on the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, and will have over 60 pavilions from 12 countries and 1,600 exhibits. The fair will run April 7 through 27, 2003, with the first week as a professional trade show and the remaining two weeks open to the public. There will be displays featuring aircraft from all eras, thematic halls depicting milestones in the history of flight, and special exhibits on themes including women in aviation, ballooning, airlines, mechanics, experimental aircraft, aviation sports and much more.
The 2003 Celebration of Flight presentation at Christopher Newport University is part of a continuing partnership with the NASA Langley’s Center for Distance Learning and the LifeLong Learning Society. For more information on the CNU LifeLong Learning Society and registration, please call 757-594-7568. Visit http://dlcenter.larc.nasa.gov to find out more about CNU/NASA distance learning programs.