The quiet beach town of Chincoteague is an easy 15-minute drive from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, which has launched more than 16,000 rockets carrying science experiments, satellites, and technology since its opening in 1945.
The Wallops Visitor Center welcomes guests with hands-on displays, science demonstrations, and short films, including High Above, Down Under, a video series about rocket launches from Australia. The center also serves as the public viewing site for rocket launches. There are two sounding rocket launches scheduled for this summer, tentatively in June and August.
“It’s really unique that Virginia has a launch range and that it’s so close to popular tourist destinations,” says Amy Barra, a public affairs specialist for the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. “You can go to see Chincoteague’s wild ponies and see a rocket launch on the same day. It’s really special. We enjoy sharing it with people.”
In the visitor center, learn about NASA’s space programs, then check out scale models of rockets and spacecraft that have lifted off over the years. A roaming “curiosity cart” can be found on weekends, engaging children with interactive science demonstrations. A favorite activity lets young children model the star formation process using a hair dryer, a tube, and Styrofoam balls.
Science on a Sphere, a permanent exhibit courtesy of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, features a supersize globe that allows visitors to visualize the Earth through the digital display of planetary data, including clouds, oceans, vegetation, geology, and human effects, like climate change.
Another exhibit, Build a Human Habitat on Mars — Survive and Thrive, explores topics like astrophysics and planetary science through Lego bricks. Visitors construct imaginary habitats, keeping in mind human needs to sustain life on Mars, including oxygen, water, food, and energy. That exhibit will be there throughout the summer.
The visitor center also hosts free programs, like model rocket launches, including water bottle rockets, straw rockets, and stomp rockets. “My personal favorite is the stomp rockets,” says Barra. “They go way farther than you would expect.”
As for those real-life rocket launches, Wallops primarily launches sounding rockets, which are suborbital rockets that take measurements or carry scientific experiments. Events are posted on the Wallops Facebook page.
The visitor center is free of charge and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Shaded picnic tables are outside the visitor center.
How to Watch a Rocket Launch
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility traditionally launches two sounding rockets on site in the summer. These launches can be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region, but the best vantage point is from the Wallops Visitor Center.
The visitor center offers a clear view of the launch range to see rockets fly off launch pads located 4 miles away. Rocket launches typically take place early in the morning but launch time can vary depending on mission requirements.
Plan to arrive within the first half hour of the visitor center gates opening. (They open earlier on a launch day.) There are about 200 parking spaces, and parking is first-come, first-served. Grab a seat on the bleachers or set up a picnic blanket and folding chairs on the open field.
Keep in mind that a launch is not always a go and may get postponed to the next day or up to a week. Conditions, such as space weather, even atmospheric winds, need to be just right for each launch. On launch days, pets, coolers, and oversized bags are prohibited.
Feature image by Chris Perry, courtesy NASA
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This story originally ran in our May issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
