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Goddard Events & Programs

A young girl with a long blond ponytail and black T-shirt faces away from the camera, watching a small model rocket lift off from its launch pad. The rocket is behind yellow caution tape, and a thin stream of white smoke billows out from its end into a small white cloud underneath as it shoots diagonally up toward the upper right corner of the image. The grass between the child and the rocket is green, and the background is dense, dark green trees.

Upcoming Special Events:

Stay tuned for more special events.

Recurring Events:

Mission: Experiment

Third Saturday of the Month, 1 – 3 p.m.

The program formally known as Sunday Experiment is moving to Saturdays! Introducing Mission: Experiment! This program will be very similar to the previous Sunday Experiment program: a free program offered on the third Saturday of the month, with activities best suited for children ages 5 to 10. Similarly, registration is not required. Each month will focus on a different mission or topic relevant to Goddard.

This program runs from September through May.

SATURDAY, Oct. 19, 1 – 3 p.m.

Where are you? Where are you going? How do you get there? These questions have been important to us since we first looked up at the stars. Navigation is the process of determining one’s position, then planning and following a route. 

Join Goddard navigation engineers Dr. Mike Shoemaker and Jamie Logan for a day of navigation activities, including orienteering, a game show Kahoot! quiz, and a technical lecture. Mike and Jamie will present twice – once at 1:30 p.m. and again at 2:30 p.m. The presentation will introduce you to space navigation and discuss two specific examples: 

  • How do we keep the James Webb Space Telescope in the right place and pointed at the right celestial objects?
  • How did we steer a robot to capture gravel from an asteroid and bring it home?  

We will offer additional casual activities like coloring and more, as well as provide informational handouts. Join us from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at the Goddard Visitor Center for this free, family-friendly program! 

OSIRIS-REx touches asteroid Bennu, collecting a sample to bring back to Earth. The gif is black and white and is a series of images where the rubble and dust that moved as the spacecraft touched the surface is visible.
Captured on Oct. 20, during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imager’s field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches and touches down on asteroid Bennu’s surface. The sampling event brought the spacecraft all the way down to sample site Nightingale, and the team on Earth received confirmation of successful touchdown at 6:08 pm EDT. Preliminary data show the sampling head touched Bennu’s surface for approximately 6 seconds, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn.
NASA, University of Arizona

Grow With Goddard

Third Thursday of the Month, 9 – 10 a.m.

Grow with Goddard! Join us for activities and demonstrations for ages 3-5 here at our visitor center during a special morning hour before we open to the public. Please see the list of dates and topics below. Registration is required for each child participant. Parents and guardians do not need to register, but at least one parent or guardian must be on-site for the program.

Registration is required for this event: NASA Goddard Visitor Center | Eventbrite

  • Oct. 17 – The Ground at our Feet! Earth Science Week
  • Nov. 21 – ABC’s of Space!
  • Dec. 19 – I’m a Scientist!
A young child interacts with a sunspot exhibit.
A young guest interacts with the Visitor Center’s Heliophysics exhibit.

Space for Me

Saturday, Oct. 26, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.

Explore the Goddard Visitor Center during a sensory-friendly hour before we open for the day. Sounds and lighting in our exhibit spaces will be limited during this time. We will also have touch items for visitors to experience. Registration is required for this free program and information can be found on our Eventbrite site here.

A young girl with a long blond ponytail and black T-shirt faces away from the camera, watching a small model rocket lift off from its launch pad. The rocket is behind yellow caution tape, and a thin stream of white smoke billows out from its end into a small white cloud underneath as it shoots diagonally up toward the upper right corner of the image. The grass between the child and the rocket is green, and the background is dense, dark green trees.
A girl watches a model rocket take off from the Goddard Visitor Center on July 14, 2013.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Talya Lerner

Model Rocket Launches

First Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. (formerly Sundays)

(some holidays excluded; weather, security conditions permitting; call ahead to confirm: 301-286-8981)

Like to build model rockets, but don’t have a launch pad? Now you do! Anyone can bring a model to fly at the Goddard Visitor Center rocket launches; there are no costs or fees to participate. Rockets, motors and supplies are available for purchase at the nearby Goddard Gift Shop (and many hobby shops or toy stores) and you can even get rocket construction and launch tips from our on-site experts on launch day!

Don’t want to launch your own rocket? That’s fine, too — come out to watch, and cheer on our rocketeers!

Model rocket launches are held at the Goddard Visitor Center the first Saturday of the month (some holidays excluded, and weather and security conditions permitting). Launches start at 1 p.m. and are brought to you by the NARHAMS Model Rocket club (http://www.narhams.org/). These launches have been part of Visitor Center programs since 1976.

Visitors bring and prepare their own models; a group safety briefing is given at 1 p.m., and models are given a preflight safety assessment. We allow single-engine models that must not exceed C-class models. 1/2A or A models work best for our field. We do not permit rocket gliders, models whose altitude may exceed 2,000 feet, clustered motors, or two stage rockets.

Weather decisions will be made the day of the launch — to check the status of a launch, please contact the Visitor Center front desk at 301-286-8981.

Sunday Experiment

You can also check out the past virtual Sunday Experiment series here.

Other Goddard Events and Programs

Please note: The events and activities listed below are not affiliated with Goddard’s Visitor Center. The Visitor Center is listing them here as a courtesy. For more information, please contact the respective sponsoring organizations.

Visit the following websites for information on seminars and colloquia at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

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