Cradle Of Aviation Hosting Live Viewing Of Mars Rover Landing

GARDEN CITY, NY —The Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center is celebrating the historic landing of the Mars Rover Perseverance during the February school break, and using the opportunity to teach the community and acknowledge the giant leap forward achieved in space exploration. Prior to the landing, the museum will be sharing mission updates, STEM-related activities and opportunities for the museum community to extend the experience.

On Feb. 18, guests at the museum will be able to watch the landing of the Perseverance rover live. After traveling nearly 300 million miles to get to Mars, the rover will begin its harrowing descent. The live broadcast will be displayed in the museum's Space Gallery beginning at 3:30 p.m. In addition, the museum's planetarium coodinator will be on hand to answer questions. The viewing is free with museum admission.

There will also be an activity for families that will let them visit Mars in 3D. Kids can learn about Perseverance's mission and make their own 3D glasses in a self-guided activity. It is also free with museum admission.

“Perseverance has a lot of ground breaking objectives and instrumentation for its mission including new radar, creating oxygen from carbon dioxide, searching for microbial life, and returning Martian samples to Earth. But one of the key objectives that we are very excited about is the helicopter named Ingenuity tucked into its belly that will make the very first powered flight on another planet!” said Jennifer Baxmeyer, executive director of the Cradle of Aviation.