Exploration Day participants line up to take a tour of the Space Shuttle Blake, a mobile replica of a NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter, on display outside the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, April 18, as part of the day's activities. This Shuttle model is actually a bus with interactive stations and activities inside. The event was sponsored by the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium and the Eberly College of Science at Penn State.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

The Bryce Jordan Center hosted Exploration Day 2009 on Saturday, April 18. Throughout the day, the event featured nearly 50 activity stations and displayed geared for families and youth, inside and outside the building.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

The Bryce Jordan Center South Annex was the site of Exploration Day 2009 on Saturday, April 18. The event featured nearly 50 activity stations and displays geared for youth inside and outside the building. Featured in and around the Bryce Jordan Center were a planetarium, a 4/10 scale mock-up of a Space Shuttle Orbiter, and a small rocket launch.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Exploration Day volunteer Ben Smith, a graduate student, pushes an event participant on a Hoverboard inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, April 18.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Participants had to shed their shoes before entering the planetarium at Exploration Day 2009. The activity was one of the many interactive events showcased on Saturday, April 18, during Exploration Day, held in the Bryce Jordan Center to help stimulate science education in youth.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Nathan, an Exploration Day participant, grins, his hair standing on end, while he experiences the static electrical effects of a Van der Graaf Generator, seen at left, during Exploration Day 2009 on Saturday, April 18, in the Bryce Jordan Center South Annex.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Brian Dingee, right, a student member of the Penn State Society of Physics Students, spins an Exploration Day participant on a rotating chair to demonstrate the scientific principle known as angular momentum during Exploration Day 2009, held in the Bryce Jordan Center South Annex on Saturday, April 18.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Mike Prikockis, left, points to light bulbs lighting up as an Exploration Day participant pedals a bicycle hooked to a small generator. The demonstration was just one of nearly 50 to fill the Bryce Jordan Center's South Annex on Saturday, April 18, as part of Exploration Day 2009 which aimed to stimulate youth interest in science and technology.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Exploration Day participant Jillian, right, helps Zoe Downing, left, a graduate student and Exploration Day 2009 volunteer, count chips used in an antibacterial nanoscience demonstration. Downing's table was one of nearly 50 set up inside the Bryce Jordan Center during the event, held on April 18, which highlighted science, engineering and space exporation for youth.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

A cloud of carbon dioxide vapor holds the interest of Exploration Day participants as Lee Wheeler, a senior, right, demonstrates the properties of dry ice during Exploration Day 2009, an annual family event, held this year on Saturday, April 18, in the Bryce Jordan Center South Annex, which aims to spark interest in sciences and technology especially in youth.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Madeline, an Exploration Day youth participant, pushes down on an air pump used to launch an air bottle rocket, seen in the air at upper-left, as demonstrator Matt Route, a graduate student, supervises. The demonstration was one of nearly 50 exhibits of science and technology that made up Exploration Day 2009, held on Saturday, April 18, in the Bryce Jordan Center South Annex.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009

Joseph MacGregor, center, a doctorate student, discusses the field equipment, seen left, used in Antarctic geoscience excursions to Exploration Day participants during Exploration Day 2009, held on Saturday, April 18. The annual event, held this year in the Bryce Jordan Center South Annex, is aimed at families and children interested in learning more about science and technology.

Photo Credit: Andy Colwell

Year Taken: 2009