UND is celebrating 50 years of aerospace education with a Saturday open house highlighting some of the best its programs have to offer.
University spokesman Peter Johnson described the event, dubbed UND Aerospace Community Day, as a "sort of pop-up science museum" in Robin and Clifford halls on the west end of campus near Interstate 29. The event is new and will feature 18 different activities for visitors of all ages, as well as a standing display of the university-owned aircraft at the school's hangar at the Grand Forks International Airport. Activities are free and open to the public.
An event description said visitors to the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences will receive a "passport" to stamp at each activity to mark their progress through the day. The schedule for the open house gives attendees a chance to direct mock air traffic, pilot the school's aircraft and spacecraft simulators, fly a small drone through an obstacle course and perform hands-on experiments in a weather lab. The day will also feature learning sessions about asteroids and space technology, research updates from the school's faculty and students and a paper airplane flying contest at the airport.
The community day is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with most events located in Robin Hall. Campus parking restrictions will be lifted for the day in UND Aerospace parking lots. There will be a free shuttle ferrying visitors between Clifford Hall and the airport at 30-minute intervals. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/2050848008265517/
