NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center Group Tour Planning Guide & Toolkit

Home , Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

www.nasa.gov Image Credit: NASA WFF Table of Contents

A Message from Visitor Center Staff Stay Connected……….………………………………………………..1

Preparing for Your Tour Planning Tools……..…………………………………………………3 Reservation Checklist…..…………………………………………….4 Tour Package Options………………………………………..………5

Add-on Experiences Lunch Options ……………………...……………………....………...7 Intern Presentation……....……………………………………………8 Programs at the Visitor Center……………………………………….8 Movies at the Visitor Center………………………………………….9 Visitor Center Exhibit Hall & Gift Shop……………………………..9

Scheduling Processes & Timelines Planning Checklist for Groups with Foreign Nationals……………11 Planning Checklist for Groups with U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents……………………………………...…………12 Preliminary Reservation Form……………………………...... …13 - 14

How to Prepare (day of tour) Letter to Tour Organizer………………………...……..………16 - 17 Letter to Tour Participants………………...……………..…………18

What if My Group is Not Qualified for a Tour?...... 19 - 20

Disclaimers……………………………………………………………21 - 22 Thank You A Message from Visitor Center Staff

A behind the scenes tour is a great way to learn first-hand about the diverse programs operated at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility located on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility, established in 1945, is the agency’s premier location for conducting research using suborbital vehicles - aircraft, scientific balloons, and sounding rockets. The research and responsibilities of Wallops Flight Facility are centered around providing a fast, low-cost, highly-flexible, and safe response to meet the needs of the U.S. aerospace technology interests and science research. Its partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) expands the facility’s capabilities for supporting the launch of orbital vehicles. During a behind-the-scenes tour of Wallops Flight Facility, visitors gain insight from engineers, scientists, program managers, and pilots about how rockets are fabricated and tested, how the Range Control Center operates, what missions our pilots and aircraft are currently flying, and how the Scientific Balloon Program Office operates. To learn more about behind-the-scenes tours, to ensure your group meets the guidelines and requirements, and to plan for an enjoyable experience please review this planning guide and toolkit. It was designed for use by tour organizers; providing helpful tips and information to make the scheduling process enjoyable. STAY CONNECTED @nasawff @nasawffvisitorcenter

@nasa_wallops www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/visitorcenter

1 Preparing for Your Tour

Image Credit: NASA WFF 2 Planning Tools

Where to Begin

 Read the Group Tour Guidelines & Scheduling Information document to ensure that your group meets the requirements for tours before proceeding with the scheduling process. GROUP TOUR GUIDELINES & SCHEDULING INFORMATION

 Consider all available options for tour stops and review available lunch options, Visitor Center add-on experiences, movies, and special presentations. View these options on pages 5 - 9.

Making Reservations

 Book your tour early. Tours must be schedule a minimum of 4 weeks in advance, howev-er, it is recommended that you start the scheduling process as soon as possible to increase the likelihood of receiving your first choice.

Accessibility

 Wallops Flight Facility is a place where everyone can participate equally during tours, programs, and events. Let us know in advance if anyone in your group requires special accommodations or if you have accessibility questions during the scheduling process.

Cancellations & Notices

 Please notify the Events and Outreach Coordinator immediately if your group needs to change or cancel a scheduled tour.

 Both tentative and confirmed schedules are subject to change or cancellation due to ongoing operations, launch date changes, and upcoming missions/launches.

Wallops crash fire rescue vehicle K-9 patrol dog demonstration

3 Reservation Checklist

You must be able to answer “YES” to all the questions listed below to begin the scheduling process and to move forward to the Preliminary Reservation Form.

Is the tour group a non-profit, school, educational, or civic group? Yes No

Is everyone attending the tour at least 4th grade level (9 years old) and up?* *If your students are K – 3rd grade please contact the Events & Outreach Coordinator to find out what field trip options are available for your group. Yes No

Does the group have their own transportation (van or bus) that will allow everyone to fit into 1 vehicle with room for one badged escort? Yes No

Does the group have a minimum of 8 participants attending the tour? Yes No

Does the group have a maximum 20 participants attending the tour?* *If a group has more than 20 participants please contact the Events & Outreach Coordinator to find out what options are available for your group. Yes No

Can the group tour Wallops on a Tuesday or Thursday? Yes No

Is the date you are interested in at least 4 weeks out?* *For groups with Foreign Nationals it must be 5 weeks out. Yes No

If you answered YES to all questions, proceed to the Preliminary Reservation Form.

4 Tour Package Options

Half and full day tours are available. Complete Tour Stop Descriptions are available on page 3 of this online document: Group Tour Guidelines & Scheduling Information

Suborbital Rockets: Sounding Rocket Fabrication Sounding Rocket Testing Range Control Center Wallops Island Driving Tour

Sounding Rocket assembly Orbital Rockets: H-100 Payload Processing Facility Range Control Center Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) Launch Pad-0A Tour* *Launch pad tours are weather permitting.

Antares rocket assembly in the HIF

Earth Science: Aircraft Hangar Balloon Program Office NOAA* *Tours of NOAA are 1 hour long and the maximum number of participants is 15.

Aerial view of the satellite dishes at NOAA

Wallops Overview: Balloon Program Office Aircraft Hangar Range Control Center Wallops Island Driving Tour

Image Credits: NASA WFF Scale model of a Super Pressure Balloon 5 Add-on Experiences

Maximize your experience by including the Visitor Center, movies and more! Each experience selected will add additional time to your tour.

Image Credit: Krystina Carpenter 6 Lunch Options

Lunch at the Visitor Center Tour Groups may bring bagged lunches to eat on-site. The Visitor Center has un-covered picnic tables available outdoors for visitor use. Indoor space is not available so please consider seasonality and possibility of inclement weather.

Lunch at the Main Base Cafeteria Tour Groups can request to eat at the employee cafeteria on the Main Base. Bagged lunches and cafeteria-style lunches are available for purchase. Please note if the group will be using the employee cafeteria, Visitor Center staff are not responsible for the group’s money and all tour guidelines apply. Options available in the cafeteria (prices may vary):

 Daily Entrée Special for $6.25 The daily entrée special includes 2 sides and a large fountain drink.

 Grill Line Special for $5.25 The grill line special includes French fries.

 Grill Line Menu (various prices) There are a variety of options available on the grill line menu. This includes pizza, chicken, hot sandwiches, etc.

 Fruit & Salad Bar for $4.95 lb.  Sandwich Bar for $4.95 lb. The sandwich bar is for cold sandwiches only: chicken salad, tuna salad, and a variety of lunch meats are available.

 Soup of the Day 8 oz. cup is $1.75 or 16 oz.; bowl is $3.25

 Boxed Lunch Specials for $5.65* The boxed lunch includes your choice of chicken tenders, cheeseburger, hamburger, or a cold sandwich (chicken salad, tuna salad, cold cut, ham or turkey) along with a bag of chips, cookies and bottled water *The boxed lunch special must be ordered 1 week prior to the tour date

7 Intern Presentation

During a 20-minute presentation by the Wallops Education Team, discover what internship opportunities are available to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students that motivate and prepare students for careers aligned with NASA Goddard and NASA Wallops as well as their industry and university partners. You will also learn how to access the One Stop Shop Initiative (OSSI) NASA Intern Portal, complete a NASA profile, and about the experiences and benefits for becoming a NASA Intern. The intern talk is by request only and must be scheduled in advance.

Programs at the Visitor Center

The NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center offers fun, interactive educational programs FREE to visiting school, educational, and civic groups. These programs range from special presentations to demonstrations and activities. Topics include rocketry, solar system and earth sciences. Programs are approximately 45 minutes long. For a current list of available programs please visit the Field Trip Opportunities webpage. If requesting a Visitor Center program, please include your program choice on the Preliminary Reservation Form.

Wallops summer intern poster session Auditorium presentation at the Visitor Center

Image Credit: NASA WFF & Krystina Carpenter 8 Movies at the Visitor Center

The NASA Wallops Visitor Center offers a variety of movies that can be viewed to complement chosen topics or to enhance your visit. There are two spaces available: a traditional auditorium theater and a 3-dimensional sphere theater called Science on the Sphere©. Movie topics include a Wallops overview, a variety of space exploration themes, and earth/climate science. If requesting a Visitor Center Movie, please indicate this choice on the Preliminary Reservation Form.

Visitor Center Exhibit Hall & Gift Shop

The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops is the place to explore the past, present, and future of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The Visitor Center features exhibits on the history of Wallops Flight Facility, aeronautics, sub-orbital and orbital rockets, scientific balloons and current missions. Located inside the Visitor Center; the Gift Shop, open seasonally, offers models, patches, games, clothing, and a variety of NASA souvenirs. If requesting additional time to explore the Visitor Center and Gift Shop during your tour of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, please indicate this choice on the Preliminary Reservation Form.

Students interacting with an exhibit at the Visitor Center Science on a Sphere Theater

Image Credit: Krystina Carpenter & Science on a Sphere 9 Scheduling Processes & Timelines There are many steps involved to schedule a tour. To make the process easier, we have provided a timeline to help keep you on track.

Image Credit: NASA WFF 10 Planning Checklist: Groups with Foreign Nationals

Use the checklist to keep track of important deadlines throughout the scheduling process.

5 or more weeks prior to the tour date: Submit the Preliminary Reservation Form to the Events & Outreach Coordinator that includes the following details: the date(s) you are interested in touring the facility, choice of full day or half-day tour, tour package type, and optional add-on experiences Foreign National paperwork and copies of the Foreign National documents must be submitted at this time

4 weeks prior to the tour date: Advise the Events & Outreach Coordinator of any changes to the tentative schedule Tour Organizer must confirm the tentative schedule with the Visitor Center Events & Outreach Coordinator The Tour Organizer will receive the liability waiver and photo release forms to distribute to Tour Participants The Tour Organizer should start assembling a name list of all people participating in the group tour

3 weeks prior to the tour date: If requesting Fact Sheets for the tour, please provide an address for mailing and the quantity you are requesting to the Events & Outreach Coordinator

2 weeks prior to the tour date: The Tour Organizer must return signed copies of the liability waiver and photo release forms to the Events & Outreach Coordinator The Tour Organizer will receive a copy of tentative tour schedule The Tour Organizer will receive an email reminder about their scheduled tour

1 week prior to the tour date: The Tour Organizer must submit the complete name list for the tour that includes all individuals attending the tour. (No changes are permitted to the name list after the 1 week deadline) The Tour Organizer will receive a confirmed tour schedule after the name list has been received by the Events & Outreach Coordinator The Tour Organizer will receive an email reminder about their visit

11 Planning Checklist: Groups with U.S. Citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents

Use the checklist to keep track of important deadlines throughout the scheduling process.

4 or more weeks prior to the tour date: Submit the Preliminary Reservation Form to the Events & Outreach Coordinator that includes the following details: the date(s) you are interested in touring the facility, choice of full day or half-day tour, tour package type, and optional add-on experiences

3 weeks prior to the tour date: Advise the Events & Outreach Coordinator of any changes to the tentative schedule Tour Organizer must confirm the tentative schedule with the Visitor Center Events & Outreach Coordinator The Tour Organizer will receive the liability waiver and photo release forms to distribute to Tour Participants The Tour Organizer should start assembling a name list of all people participating in the group tour If requesting Fact Sheets for the tour, please provide an address for mailing and the quantity you are requesting to the Events & Outreach Coordinator

12 Preliminary Reservation Form

Please review the Group Tour Guideline & Scheduling Information document online and complete the Reservation Checklist on page 4 of the Group Tour Planning Guide & Toolkit to determine if your group is eligible for a tour of NASA Wallops Flight Facility PRIOR to filling out this form.

GROUP INFORMATION

Group Name Group Contact

Organization Type Group Contact Mailing Address

Group Contact Email Address Group Contact Phone Number

Number of Participants Age of Participants

Vehicle Type Nationality of Participants (All participants must be Requesting Special (check all that apply; groups on one vehicle with one Accommodations? with Foreign Nationals require seat available for badged (If Yes, please 5 weeks advance notice) escort) provide details) U.S. Citizen School Bus Foreign National Passenger Van Lawful Permanent Tour Bus Resident Other

Continued on next page

13 TOUR DETAILS

Available on Tuesdays and Thursdays ONLY. Tours are subject to change or cancellation due to mission operations.

Tour Date(s) Requested (required format 12/14/2017) Backup Date #1 Backup Date #2

Group Tour Package Choice Length of Tour (select one) (If requesting a tour outside of the 10 am - 3 pm time period please specify)

Add on Experiences (check all that apply) Lunch Options (add 45 minutes) program (add 45 minutes) Bring own packed lunch movies (add 25 minutes) Cafeteria: box lunch (pre-ordered) exhibit hall & gift shop (add 30 minutes) Cafeteria: purchase individually None

Would you like a NASA Internship talk? Would you like to receive mission (Available for high school and college fact sheets to complement tour age participants; add 20 minutes) stops? Yes Yes No No

Submit completed form to the Events & Outreach Coordinator: [email protected]

14 How to Prepare: Letters to the Tour Organizer and Tour Participants

Image Credit: NASA WFF 15 Letter to Tour Organizer

Dear Group Tour Organizer: The NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center is excited to have you group participate in a tour of the facility! As the tour date approaches, the Visitor Center will provide you with a final copy of the schedule. Please review the items below in order to prepare the group for the day of the visit. Tours start promptly at the time stated on the schedule. Please plan additional travel time to allow for a restroom break prior to the tour start time, potential traffic and other unexpected occurrenc- es. A minimum of 30 minutes additional travel time is recommended. Arriving more than 15 minutes late for the scheduled start time will result in cancellation of all or part of the tour. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is committed to protecting the safety and security of all employees and visitors to our facility. To that end, during entry onto the facility you will encounter NASA security procedures. All participants must bring the proper form of identification to gain entry onto the facility. The forms of identification include:

 Valid Photo I.D. for all U.S. Citizens that are 16 years of age or older

 Current Green Card for all Lawful Permanent Residents

 Documents (VISA, ESTA Form and Passport) for all approved Foreign Nationals All participants must be in 1 vehicle with an additional seat for an approved badged escort. Since the badged escort will be informing the participants throughout the tour as well as directing the driver, please leave a seat in the front of the vehicle available for the badged escort. To ensure the safety of all participants there is a dress code for groups touring certain facilities. Please review the information below to ensure the group participants follow the dress code. If any of the participants do not follow the dress code on the day of the visit, the tour stop will be cancelled. All participants must wear closed toe shoes if the group is scheduled to tour any of the following facilities: Fabrication, Testing, Aircraft Hangar(s), Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF, or Launch Pad(s). If the group is scheduled to tour the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), in addition to closed toe shoes, all participants must wear long pants—no shorts, skirts or dresses are permitted. Legs must be covered with pants. Cell phones, key fobs, and fit bits are not permitted in the facility; they must be left in the vehicle. ………..Continued on next page 16 Letter to Tour Organizer (cont.)

Please dress appropriately for forecasted outdoor conditions including heat, cold and wind if the group is scheduled to tour the Launch Pad(s). In the case of inclement weather, a Launch Pad tour will be replaced with a Wallops Island driving tour. However, a Wallops Island driving tour can not be added after the launch pad tour is conducted.

If the group is planning to purchase lunch from the base cafeteria, please provide the group participants with the cafeteria pricing and options that are listed on page 10 of this document.

Please note that all tentative and confirmed tour schedules are subject to change or cancellation in advance or at the last minute due to ongoing launch operations, launch date changes, upcoming missions and activities. If the Visitor Center must cancel the tour due to mission activities, the Visitor Center will work with the you to reschedule the visit for a later date. On page 18 of this document you will find a Letter to Tour Participants. Please provide each tour participant with a copy of this letter prior to the tour date to ensure they are prepared for the visit. If the you have any questions in regards to the tour, please contact the Events and Outreach Coordinator. Thank you again for scheduling a tour of NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility!

Sincerely, The Visitor Center Staff

17 Letter to Tour Participants

Dear Tour Participant: The NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center is excited to host you during your tour of the facility! In order to prepare for the tour, please review the items below . NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is committed to protecting the safety and security of all employees and visitors to our facility. To that end, during entry onto the facility, you will encounter NASA security procedures. All participants must bring the proper form of identification to gain entry onto the facility. The forms of identification include:

 Valid Photo I.D. for all U.S. Citizens that are 16 years of age or older

 Current Green Card for all Lawful Permanent Residents

 Documents (VISA, ESTA Form and Passport) for all approved Foreign Nationals

To ensure the safety of all participants there is a dress code for groups touring certain facilities. All participants must wear closed toe shoes if the group is scheduled to tour any of the following facilities: Fabri- cation, Testing, Aircraft Hangar(s), Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), or Launch Pad(s). If the group is scheduled to tour the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), in addition to closed toe shoes, all participants must wear long pants—no shorts, skirts or dresses are permitted. Legs must be covered with pants. Cell phones, key fobs, and fit bits are not permitted in the facility; they must be left in the vehicle. Please dress appropriately for forecasted outdoor conditions including heat, cold and wind if the group is scheduled to tour the Launch Pad(s). In the case of inclement weather, a Launch Pad tour will be replaced with a Wallops Island driving tour. Photographs are permitted unless instructed otherwise by the tour escort, guest speakers or protective services. If you have any questions about tour logistics, please contact your Tour Group Organizer or the Visitor Center Events and Outreach Coordinator. We look forward to seeing you on the day of the visit!

Sincerely, The Visitor Center Staff

18 What if My Group is Not Qualified for a Tour? After assessment of your groups eligibility based on the guidelines, a visit to the Visitor Center is a great alternative.

Image Credit: NASA WFF 19 Other Options When Your Group is Not Qualified

 If the group has more than the maximum number of participants allowed for a tour, the group has the following options available: Option1: The entire group can participate in a driving tour of Wallops Island as long as everyone fits into 1 vehicle with room for a badged escort. Option 2: The group can visit for 2 half-day tours for a maximum of 40 participants, however, the group will not be able to purchase lunch in the base cafeteria. Option 3: The group can visit for 2 full day tours with a maximum of 20 participants on each day.

 NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility does not offer tours to the general public and the general public is not permitted to join a pre-scheduled group tour.

 The only way the public can tour NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility: Enrollment in a confirmed group tour that has met all the guidelines Attend the Open House which occurs every 5 years

7 meter Antenna on Wallops Island Horizontal Integration Facility Scale model of a Scientific Balloon

Image Credits: NASA WFF 20 Disclaimers The NASA Wallops Flight Facility has a very dynamic mission schedule that is continually changing to meet deadlines. Groups are subject to change, reschedule and cancellation due to these operations.

Image Credit: NASA WFF 21 Disclaimers

 In order for your tour to be confirmed the Tour Organizer must submit a complete name list of ALL group participants attending the tour 1 week prior to the scheduled tour date to the Events & Outreach Coordinator. (First and Last Name required) NO CHANGES can be made to the name list after the 1 week deadline.  All participants touring Fabrication, Testing, the Aircraft Hangar(s), the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), or the Launch Pads must wear closed toe shoes. NO Exceptions  No cell phones, key fobs, or devices that transmit a signal are permitted in the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF).  All participants touring the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) must wear long pants—no shorts, skirts or dresses are permitted. Legs must be covered with pants.  Both tentative and confirmed schedules are subject to change or cancellation at any stage of the scheduling process including the day of tour due to ongoing launch operations, launch date changes, upcoming missions, and activities.  Launch pad tours are subject to cancellation due to inclement weather. A driving tour of Wallops Island will be substituted for a launch pad tour, however, NO other tour stop can be added to the schedule.  If a groups selects the Wallops Island driving tour, the participants will NOT be permitted to get off the bus for any reason including photo opportunities.  Cafeteria menu items and prices are subject to change.  To knowingly give false information to the federal government is a felony. (18 U.S.C § 1001)  NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is committed to protecting the safety and security of all employees and visitors to the facility. To that end, during entry onto the facility, you will encounter NASA security procedures.  Returning groups are limited to a maximum of 6 tours per calendar year.* *If the Visitor Center cancels your tour due to mission operations, the tour will not be included in the maximum number permitted per year.

C-23 Sherpa located in the Aircraft Hangar Range Control Center

Image Credits: NASA WFF 22 THANK YOU! Need help? Contact the Events & Outreach Coordinator: 757.824.2298 or email [email protected]

Image Credit: NASA WFF 23