The NASA Goddard Visitor Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, now offers virtual field trip programs for student and community groups, focusing on such subjects as living and working on the International Space Station and how to build a satellite. These virtual field trips are available to groups with a minimum of eight students – grades kindergarten and above. In addition to receiving a list of online resources, your group would schedule a 45 minute live virtual session with an informal educator. We are currently scheduling sessions Tuesday through Friday.
To Schedule a Virtual Field Trip
For more information or to schedule a virtual field trip, please email GSFC-VisitorCenter@mail.nasa.gov.
Virtual Field Trip Options
Interactive presentations are taught live by an informal education specialist and are approximately 45 minutes in length. Topics are listed below. Custom programs may be offered based on availability.
- Living and Working in Space, Kindergarten – 4th Grade
People are living and working in space right now! Participants will discover many of the different ways that scientists, engineers and astronauts have developed to help humans live in space. They will also learn about the parts of an astronaut’s spacesuit and then look at actual food items sent to the International Space Station.
This program has three parts: a series of short videos to watch ahead of time, a live interactive presentation with a question-and-answer session, and optional self-guided activities using common supplies already on hand at home and school.
- How to Build a Satellite, 4th – 8th Grade
Building a satellite takes many steps, requires help from a team, and needs creativity and innovation to make things work. Participants will explore the engineering design process and how scientists and engineers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center use it to solve problems. They will also talk about tools and components of a satellite with demonstrations focusing on infrared light.
This program has three parts: a series of short videos to watch ahead of time, a live interactive presentation with a question-and-answer session, and optional self-guided activities using common supplies already on hand at home and school.
- Goddard Overview, 9th Grade – Adult
With facilities in Maryland, Virginia, New Mexico, Texas, New York and West Virginia, Goddard is a place where a mission can go from start to finish: from planning to building to testing and even launching. Goddard is also involved in nearly every NASA science mission involving Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics (the study of the Sun and our local space environment) and astrophysics. Participants will receive an overview presentation focused on current missions.This program is lecture-style, with a question-and-answer session and additional self-guided resources.
Virtual Field Trip Eligibility Requirements
- Virtual field trips are available for free to the public.
- Virtual field trips need a minimum of eight participants and a suggested maximum of 50 participants. Exceptions may be made to accommodate large groups. However, groups of more than 50 are encouraged to schedule multiple sessions to allow for higher quality participant and instructor interactions.
- Groups may not charge participants a fee to attend the program.
- Field trip requests should be submitted at least two weeks in advance.
*If your number of school-age participants is outside of our requirement ranges, please contact us to see what options may be available for your group.
*If you would like to request an accommodation to participate in this program (e.g., sign language interpreter, captioning service, reader services, etc.) please contact the GSFC Disability Program Manager, Merechia Davis, in the Equal Opportunity Programs Office at (301) 286-0561 or merechia.n.davis@nasa.gov.