HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation’s Saturn Circle is hosting the 2018 Mad Scientist Bash this Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. Come dressed as your favorite mad scientist or in geek chic for an evening of food, dancing and science under the Saturn V moon rocket.
Atlanta-based party band Big Night Dynamite will perform favorite dance tunes, and the Rocket Center’s chefs have devised a science-themed menu that includes fried meteorites (a.k.a. arancini fried risotto balls), chicken satay with Saturn V spice and Atomic pop strawberries. An extraordinary part of the evening includes having a full-size Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) model from Boeing on display outside the venue. This model, used for training military and civilian transport personnel, looks the same as the armed ones in silos at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenburg Air Force Base, Calif.
The Boeing Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) team will transport the GBI model from the company's Jetplex facility to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center beginning Saturday at 7 a.m., and will retrace its route down Interstate 565 beginning at 9:30 p.m. The transport will have a police escort, but all public roads will remain open.
GMD is an integral element of the United States' layered ballistic missile defense architecture, designed to detect, intercept and destroy incoming long-range missiles in flight. Boeing has been the prime contractor for the system since 2001, with headquarters in Huntsville. The company has played a vital role in building the United States’ space and defense programs in Alabama for more than 50 years, growing to become the largest aerospace company in the state, employing approximately 2,700.
The Mad Scientist Bash benefits the Rocket Center’s STEM-based children’s programs and exhibits, Space Camp scholarships and the newly-created U.S. Cyber Camp. For tickets and more information, visit www.rocketcenter.com.
USSRC media contact: Pat Ammons, pat.ammons@spacecamp.com; 256-721-5429
Boeing media contact: Terence Williams, Space and Missile Systems, terence.r.williams@boeing.com; 256-937-5815; 314-258-3568, mobile
About U.S. Space & Rocket Center
The U.S. Space & Rocket Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate, is home to Space Camp® and Aviation Challenge®, the Apollo 16 capsule, the National Historic Landmark Saturn V rocket and world-class traveling exhibits. USSRC is the Official Visitor Center for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and a showcase for national defense technologies developed at the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal.
To learn more about the exciting programs and activities at the USSRC, go to www.rocketcenter.com.
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