Onsite Field Trips

For those wishing to visit the Goddard Visitor Center in person, onsite in-person programs are available to school, community and cultural groups Thursdays and Fridays with prior reservation. Groups must have a minimum of eight people and should not exceed 80 people. Field trips include an interactive presentation and time for self-guided exhibit exploration.

Current program options are as follows:

• 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. 
  
• Engineering Satellites, 5th – 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. 
• 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.
  

Virtual Field Trips

For groups who are not able to visit the Goddard Visitor Center in-person, virtual field trips are available. The NASA Goddard Visitor Center offers virtual field trip programs, focusing on such subjects as living and working on the International Space Station and how to build a satellite. These virtual field trips taught live by an informal education and are available to schools and community 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. Virtual field trips are offered on Thursdays and Fridays.

Virtual Field Trip Options

Interactive presentations are taught live by an informal education specialist and are approximately 45 minutes in length. All virtual field trips have 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. Topics are listed below.

• 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. 
  
• How We Build a Satellite, 5th – 8th Grade
  Building a satellite takes many steps, requires help from a team, and needs creativity and innovation to make things work. Participants will learn about 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. 
  
• 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.
• Goddard Overview (Career Highlights), 9th – 12th Grade
  With facilities in Maryland, Virginia, New York, West Virginia, New Mexico, and Texas, 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 that also highlights Goddard staff working on several of the missions that are featured.
  
  This program is lecture-style with video interviews interspersed, along with a question-and-answer session and additional self-guided resources.

Virtual and Onsite Field Trip Eligibility Requirements

• Field trips are available for free to schools and community groups.
• 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 four weeks in advance.

To schedule an onsite or virtual field trip email GSFC-VisitorCenter@mail.nasa.gov with the following information

• Group name
• Onsite or virtual field trip

• Number and age range/grade of field trip participants
• Location: City, State
• Preferred field trip date and time (Thursday and Fridays)
• Requested field trip program topic

*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.