Looking for a fun and educational community event to attend? Allan Hancock College, in partnership with NASA, is hosting a NASA Expo (or called Asteroid Days) starting November 22-23 in honor of NASA preparing to launch the Double Asteroid Impact (DART) towards the end of this month at Lompoc’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.

The expo will run for two days and will feature various lectures, workshops, exhibits, booths, and more. Admission is free and open to the public, the only requirement is to show proof of vaccination status. The community of Santa Maria is highly encouraged to attend. The highlight of this event will be the viewing party of the DART spacecraft launch, which will be held on the night of November 23rd at Hancock’s Lompoc Valley Center.

The NASA Expo will be held on the Allan Hancock College campus, specifically located in the Mechanics Bank Student Center (bldg. G). Day 1 of the expo (Nov. 22) will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Day 2 (Nov. 23) will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you are unable to attend this event, Hancock will also be livestreaming the full event on Youtube. Here are the following schedules for the NASA Expo:

Monday, Nov. 22- NASA Expo, Day 1

11 a.m.-6 p.m., Mechanics Bank Student Center, G-106

Walk around the Student Center and enjoy booths featuring:

• Planetary Missions Program Office DART Exhibit
• Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Program
• Ames Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute
• Solar System Treks
• NASA Night Sky Network
• NASA Ames Research Center
• Lewis Center for Educational Research
• SACNAS
• St. Mary’s Vesta Team
• Virtual Photo Booth

Workshops:

• Workshop 1: NASA Planetary Missions
  1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m., bldg. W, Room 31
  Presenter: Brian Mitchell, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
• Workshop 2: The Italian Space Agency and the LICIACube Satellite
  3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., bldg. W, Room 31
  Presenter: Simone Pirrotta, ASI Italian Space Agency
• Workshop 3: A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall – Protecting Earth from Killer Asteroids
  4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., bldg. C, Room 40
  Presenter: Brian Day, NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute
• Community Lecture
  6 p.m.-7 p.m., bldg. C, Room 40
  Presenter: Lori Glaze, NASA Director of Planetary Science

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021- NASA Expo, Day 2

• Same booths listed from the previous day (check Day 1)

Workshops:

• Workshop 1: Conducting Your Own Explorations with NASA’s Solar System Treks
  11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., bldg. W, Room 31
  Presenter: Brian Day, NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute
• Workshop 2: Student Exploration of Space with GAVRT
  1 p.m.-2 p.m., bldg. W, Room 31
  Presenter: Ryan Dorcey, Lewis Center for Educational Research
• Workshop 3: NASA Planetary Missions
  2 p.m.-3 p.m., bldg. C, Room 40
  Presenter: Brian Mitchell, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
• Launch Viewing
  9 p.m.-12 a.m., Lompoc Valley Center

Again, anyone is welcome to attend this event, especially if you are interested in STEM (math), science, technology, and engineering. To find out more information about this event, visit https://www.hancockcollege.edu/nasa/.