Mike Lammers, center, Deputy Chief Flight Director at Houston's Johnson Space Center and a graduate of Albert Lea High School, talks with fairgoers about the space suits on display. (Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Call it one giant leap for the Minnesota State Fair.
The Great Minnesota Get-Together features extraterrestrial items this year, including a moon rock, with NASA and the Science Museum of Minnesota's exhibitions at the North End Event Center.
"NASA Lands at the Fair for the First Time," a program highlighting the future of space travel and exploration, will coincide with Journey to Space until Aug. 24.
Members of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland will be at the fair for the first four days. Mike Lammers, an Albert Lea High School graduate and deputy chief flight director at Houston's Johnson Space Center, was there Thursday on day one talking to fairgoers.
"It's cool that people are interested in what we do at NASA," Lammers said. "You come back and people think that it's impressive that you work for NASA, and it's because I grew up here. There are good schools and good universities here, and they're attractive to tech industries like space."
The fair exhibits include a look at the evolution of spacesuits over time and a moon rock from the 1971 Apollo 15 mission. While most the spacesuits are models and replicas, the singular Russian suit was worn in space by American astronaut Shannon Lucid on a shared mission.
Chris Hartenstine, artifacts manager for NASA's Glenn Research Center, said the moon rock is one of a few dozen that travel in exhibitions. Most moon rocks have been used for experiments and studies.
"It is an accomplishment in itself to know that that rock traveled over 260,000 miles back from the moon," Hartenstine said. "They're priceless national treasures, and having that available to share with the public is a really cool experience."