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Monthly Events

Explore, grow, launch, and dream with us at the Goddard Visitor Center! Our series of events each month offers something for everyone. From sensory friendly hours to model rocket launches and more, people of any age can have a blast in our space!

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.

Reoccurring Events

Mission: Experiment
Third Saturday of the Month, 1 – 3 p.m.
Activities best suited for children ages 5 to 10

Grow with Goddard
Third Thursday of the Month, 9 – 10 a.m.
Activities and demonstrations for ages 3-5

Space for Me
Sensory friendly hour

Model Rocket Launches
First Saturday of the month, 1 p.m.
All ages welcome!

Other Goddard Events

alt="A young student uses an interactive kiosk at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center to build an Exoplanet. A large video screen also shows star streaks as space flight is simulated."

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.

Questions? Email the Goddard Visitor Center team about Mission: Experiment

Saturday, Nov. 16, 1 – 3 p.m.

Weather, water, oceans, and Earth: How do satellites help us understand the water cycle?

Join Goddard scientists and engineers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Observations and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) mission for hands-on demonstrations, crafts, and games that explore the water cycle, oceans, engineering, and auroras. LEO User Engagement Scientist Kat Hawley will give a presentation on LEO observations and meteorology at 1:30 p.m., and NOAA Physical Scientist Valerie Mikles will host a trivia game at 2:15 p.m.

Join us at the Goddard Visitor Center for this free, family-friendly program!

A woman wearing a blue polo demonstrates an activity on a table in front of four participants at the Goddard Visitor Center
On the third Saturday of the Month from 1-3 p.m. from Sept. to May, the Goddard Visitor Center hosts Mission: Experiment! The program is free with activities best suited for children ages 5 to 10.
NASA

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

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

A young child interacts with a sunspot exhibit.
An excitedly smiling child appears silhouetted in profile against the backdrop of an image of the Sun, its surface curving across the screen from left to right and a bright yellow loop erupting from its red and yellow swirling surface. Space is black behind the Sun, and the Sun's corona appears as a diffuse red glow along its edge.

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.

Oct. 17 – The Ground at our Feet! Earth Science Week
Nov. 21 – ABC’s of Space!
Dec. 19 – I’m a Scientist!

Registration is required for this event about Grow with Goddard

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 event about Space for Me
A group of volunteers assist in launching model rockets at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center. Several multicolored rockets are seen on a launching rack on the right of the image, while four high school students assist with the wiring as preparation to launch.
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.

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. 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.

Learn more about the NARHAMS Model Rocket club about Model Rocket Launches

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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