NASA Grant Allows Lunar Living Exhibit At MOSI In Tampa

Carter Gaddis | Tuesday, March 9, 2010

It could be decades before people colonize the moon, if it happens at all. But a $1.16 million grant awarded in January by NASA will give visitors at the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) the chance to find out what it could be like one day to live on the Earth's junior astronomical partner.

The grant, one of nine awarded nationwide through NASA's Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums, will enable MOSI to create an interactive exhibit called Mission LEAP (Lunar Expedition for Astronaut Pioneers).

Christopher Stapleton of Orlando-based Simiosys Real World Laboratory will partner with MOSI and industry experts from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, says MOSI's Cathy Crowder.

"They're going to be working with us to create a whole atmosphere, showing what life would be like and what you would need to live on the moon," Crowder says.

As the project develops in the coming months, MOSI will receive ongoing feedback from several sources, including Girls Scouts from West Central Florida, students from Stewart Middle School, MOSI's Kids in Charge! advisory board and museum visitors.

Crowder says the exhibit will become a permanent fixture at MOSI. The project is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Writer: Carter Gaddis
Source: Cathy Crowder, MOSI

Read more articles by Carter Gaddis.

Carter Gaddis is a freelance writer and graduate of the University of South Florida (BA, mass communications). He covered sports for the Tampa Tribune for 16 years, including four years on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and eight years on the Tampa Bay Rays beat. He publishes the parenting and social commentary blog, DadScribe, and is a contributing writer for the TODAY Show. He lives in Lutz with his wife and two sons. Carter can be found on Twitter @DadScribe.