NASA Ames Research Center Open House

The last time there was an Open House at NASA’s Ames Research Center was 17 years ago. On Saturday, 10/​18/​2014 they opened the gates for the 75^th Anniversary to allow public access to the center’s campus. There was a self-​guided walking tour, exhibits, and meet-​and-​greets with real NASA scientists, engineers and mission support staff.
–Transportation–
Walk or bike: Enter through the Moffett Blvd. Gate or Ellis St. Gate.
Public transit: Shuttle buses ran every 15 min, starting at 8:15AM — TBD. The two transit locations were:
(1) Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Light Rail’s «BayShore/​NASA» station, and
(2) VTA Light Rail’s «Downtown Mountain View» station /​CalTrain «Mountain View» station.
Driving: Very limited public parking on site (10,500 parking spaces), accessible through the Ellis St. Gate.
NOTE: CHP closed the Moffett Blvd. off-​ramps on hwy 101 at 7:30AM on Oct. 18. Manila Rd was also closed to vehicles from Enterprise Way to Ellis St.
–Self-​Guided Walking Tour–
On the two-​mile, self-​guided walking tour (starting at Arnold Ave.), visitors could follow a path past unique NASA facilities, interact with NASA scientists and engineers, and have opportunities to learn about new technologies and developing projects at Ames.
Technology Way — NASA CubeSats and small spacecraft missions, NASA’s technology portfolio, Ames’ SpaceShop advanced manufacturing and Ames’ rotorcraft research
Science Showcase — space biology on the International Space Station, astrochemistry and microbes
Arc Jet Alley — entry, descent and landing technologies, heat shields and thermal protection systems
Education area, aeronautics displays, supercomputing, intelligent systems and robotics, fluid mechanics and much more.
–Shenandoah Plaza–
At the east end of Shenandoah Plaza area, visitors could walk through Hangar One to see air-​crafts displayed on the airfield flight line. Some exhibits:
NASA missions: K2 (which uses the Kepler space telescope), Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)
Children’s activity area: featuring Traveling Space Museum simulators
Earth science unmanned air vehicles (UAVs)
NASA Research Park partners
Static aircraft displays on the airfield in front of Hangar One: NASA Quiet Short-​Haul Research Aircraft (QSRA), NASA Armstrong’s C-​20/​G-​III w/​UAVSAR pod, California Air National Guard C-​130, California Air National Guard HH-​60 Pave Hawk, Army’s Blackhawk, Flight Research Associates GlaStar, GaryAir Malibu/​Matrix
–Chase Park –
In the conference building, there were «Ask a NASA Expert» panel discussions at 11AM, 1PM and 3PM (additional talks throughout the day). Chase Park also held the Super Moveable Feast, a collection of around 100 food trucks.
My review of the Super Moveable Feast:
–Backstage Tours–
80′ X 120′ Wind Tunnel
Future Flight Central
Fluid Mechanics
Vertical Motion Simulator
Space Shop
Ames Exploration Encounter
Unitary Plan Wind Tunnels
NASA Advance Supercomputing Facility
SPHERES
20-​G Centrifuge
Airspace Operations Laboratory
Tickets for 120,000 attendees were sold out months in advanced. I was able to obtain tickets because a friend is an employee and they were given several Friends & Family Tickets that allowed you to enter at any time instead of the allotted times designated in the tickets distributed through Eventbrite. When we arrived around 1PM, however they weren’t even checking any tickets so if you came, you were able to just walk right in. The lines for more of the displays were insanely long. I was just happy at looking at the exterior of the vehicles. Quite amusing as well to see all the adults excited to talk to real scientist. Fun experience if you just want to wander around. Definitely need to have a lot of patience.