Space enthusiasts and budding explorers should get on board this four-day festival celebrating innovation — including talks from real-life astronauts and interactive NASA exhibits.
The seventh annual Space and Science Festival blasts off Thursday at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Complex at Hell’s Kitchen’s Pier 86, giving attendees of all ages a chance to explore hands-on, interactive formats and soak up knowledge from expert panelists.
“There’s so much robust content here and it really is for people of all ages,” said festival organizer Desiree Siegal. “From NASA to all the great participating partners and panelists … there’s so much content happening over the four days our visitors get to see and explore. It’s something that doesn’t happen very often, so it’s really special.”
NASA will have a big presence at this year’s festival, including a virtual-reality “space flight center” giving participants a taste of what it’s like to take flight, a look at the International Space Station and an interactive exhibit on the James Webb Space Telescope.
There will also be notable contributions from current and former astronauts. Astronaut Sunita Williams, who has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions aboard the International Space Station, will give a talk and answer questions from the audience on Saturday, Sept. 22.
While space may be prominently featured at the festival, the event aims to showcase all kinds of science, technology and math innovation. Kids will get the opportunity to make their own robots with the Brooklyn Robot Foundry, and on Saturday evening there will be a screening of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The festival runs Sept. 20 through 23. General admission tickets, which can be purchased here, are $33 for adults, $24 for children and $31 for seniors.
